A Different Scroll
by BlueWolf1923
Summary: Ten-year-old Hinata works up the courage to talk to Naruto, and ends up teaching him the Clone Jutsu. He passes the Genin Exam properly and never learns the Shadow Clone Jutsu. From there, their entire lives change forever. NaruHina. Rinnegan!Naruto. Chapter 23: Fight Fire With Fire
1. Konoha's Genin

_Preface: This is a fanfiction. I do not own any part of the Naruto franchise, nor am I profiting from it in any way. This, I'm certain, is quite obvious to everyone reading this story, however I'm mentioning because of fanfiction dot net tradition. Also, please forgive any typos or grammatical errors you may find. I do my best to spot the little buggers but I'm writing this on WordPad, which has no spellcheck at all. Most importantly, thank you for choosing to read this story of the hundreds of thousands of Naruto fanfiction stories at your disposal. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_Update: At some point over the first few chapters of the story, Naruto receives a kekkei genkai which has appeared in canon with little to no connection to his clan. To avoid a relatively minor spoiler, I'll avoid saying which one, but I feel it's necessary to give some kind of warning to you, the reader._

_Update 2: It's the Rinnegan._

_Update 3: **(Rather Important:) **I have received several disappointed or even angry reviews over three errors I made in this first chapter. First, Lee, Neji and Tenten graduate in the same year as the Rookie Nine. This was done because I wanted Lee to replace Naruto on Team Seven. Second, a Genin mentions Akatsuki. In canon, they were relatively unknown, but considering the infamy of the shinobi comprising the group, I decided to change this. People know about Akatsuki in this story. Third, the Uzumaki Clan are mentioned, as a clan that formerly held a measure of power in Konoha along with Uzushio. This one wasn't intended at all, but I ran with it and made it a part of the plot. If these changes are too much for you to tolerate, then I wish you the best in finding a story more to your liking._

X

Today was Naruto Uzumaki's tenth birthday.

He sat up, yawned, and stretched, alone in an apartment donated to him by the Third Hokage. He had never once celebrated this day, since everyone else in the world known to him thought of this day as the day the Fourth Hokage died. Most of them were of the opinion that it was Naruto's fault, since he was of course the 'demon of Konoha.' Naruto was no genius, but he had been able to piece it together. They thought he was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, hiding in human form until its power returned and it could destroy Konoha.

So, once a year, when their sorrow and hatred over his existence proved to much for the Hokage to keep in check, they sought out the ten-year-old 'demon' and attacked him. Naruto had usually been able to evade them with just Genin-level stealth, but he could see in their eyes they hated him.

He never once blamed them. If someone killed the Third Hokage, Naruto wouldn't easily forgive them. But, he knew talking about it would solve nothing, so he spent his tenth birthday, as with the years prior, in hiding.

Specifically, he hid in Training Ground Forty-Two, a field of shattered granite slabs that had been destroyed by the Kyuubi approaching Konoha. Here was where he practiced all day, every birthday, every October 10, trying desperately to learn the Clone Jutsu. On other days, he'd practice with kunai or taijutsu, but learning the Clone Jutsu, thereby becoming a Genin, would be the perfect birthday gift.

"Clone Jutsu!" A pale, shriveled, and dead-eyed parody of a blond ten-year-old popped into existence with a cloud of white smoke. Naruto groaned, and dispelled the clone. "_Clone Jutsu_!" This time, nothing at all emerged from the smoke. "Come on, come _on_! I know I can do this! If I can't learn the Clone Jutsu, what kinda Hokage would I be? _CLONE JUTSU_!"

This time the cloud of smoke was massive, and through it, Naruto glimpsed an upright figure. _Did I do it? _The smoke cleared, revealing another garbage clone, and Hinata Hyuuga.

"Gah!" Naruto stepped back. Immediately, his instincts connected _someone's looking at me _and _it's my birthday_, with the result being _run!_

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata, as per usual, was avoiding eye contact, staring at her index fingers as she played with them.

The blond ninja recognized her and calmed down, though he was still a little shaky from the adrenaline coursing through his body. He sighed in relief. "Hey, Hinata-chan. What're you doing all the way out here?"

"I-I... I c-came to see you, Naruto-kun. You're always out here, t-training all day, whenever your b-birthday comes around. That must b-be sad..." She took a deep breath, and reached into a pocket on her grey coat. "I c-came to give you this!" she declared in a desperate, panicked voice, but whatever she tried to pull out of her pocket got stuck, and she blushed deeper than usual, trying to free the item as though her life depended on it.

"Hinata, relax, it's okay." Naruto said this quietly, unsure if it would make any difference, but continued, "You're gonna be a Genin in a couple of years, a kunoichi, believe it! So just calm down. Whatever's always got you so freaked out, I'm sure you can handle it, easy!"

Hinata was silent at this. She had managed to free the green scroll from her pocket, and was now staring at it, not sure what to do. Then she blinked and held out the scroll shakily. "T-this is for you, Naruto-kun. H-happy birthday." He took the scroll, speechless at the thought of an actual birthday present, and opened it.

It was a step-by-step instruction for a perfect execution of the Clone Jutsu, with far more detail than the lessons at the Academy.

"Hinata-chan_... this is the best birthday ever_!" He screeched gleefully, and hugged her, dropping the scroll in the process.

_Must not faint must not faint must not faint_

Hinata blushed a darker red than she ever had in her life, but managed to stay conscious. She heard what sounded like sobbing on her shoulder. _Naruto-kun can't possibly be... crying... right?_

"N-Naruto-kun... are you alright?"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine, it's just this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me!" Naruto interrupted himself to weep loudly. "Hinata-chan, you're the b-best! And now I'm finally gonna learn the Clone Jutsu, and I got my first birthday present ever, and I..." he sobbed again, still with his head on her shoulder. "I'm gonna make it up to you, Hinata-chan, b-believe it!"

As he released her from the embrace, Hinata stammered, "N-Naruto-kun... t-that really isn't... you d-don't have to..."

"I'll start by showing you this great ramen place! It's the best in town and I live on the stuff! All you can eat, on me, Hinata-chan!" Naruto was still sniffling, but as abruptly as his crying had begun, it had stopped. He beamed at her, blue eyes wide with joy despite the tears dripping down his cheeks.

_A date? Did Naruto just ask me on a... date?_

Thus began a beautiful friendship that would shape the rest of their lives, and change Konoha forever.

X

"Come on, Hinata-chan, dig in!" Naruto slurped back a huge mouthful of pork ramen. Teuchi and Ayame glanced at each other, wide-eyed. Both of them were wondering how Naruto had managed to bring the princess of the Hyuuga Clan into Ichiraku Ramen, and make it look suspciciously like a date.

Hinata shook free of her stupor with a gasp, turning to face Naruto. "Lots of people say it's disgusting and unhealthy, but take my word for it, it's great!" He slurped more noodles to accentuate the point.

Hinata nodded, and snapped apart a pair of chopsticks. She sank the tips into the golden broth, taking up a sizable bundle of noodles. She glanced at Naruto, who had turned back to his bowl and was shoveling the stuff back. She brought the ramen to her lips, tasted it, and found it was no less delicious than Naruto had claimed. She slurped the noodles with increasing speed until she was on par with Naruto.

While Ayame was bringing him a second bowl, Naruto turned to watch Hinata, hunched over her bowl with a proud smile showing through the noodles that dangled from her mouth. _Wow...I've never seen anyone eat ramen that fast... _she finished the noodles, and drank the bowl of broth in mere seconds.

"That was amazing, Hinata-chan!" Naruto beamed, flipping a thumbs-up. For a moment Hinata forgot her shyness, and smiled back, then blushed and looked down. "Hey, Hinata-chan, can I ask you something?"

"Y-yes?"

"Why _are_ you so shy all the time? You keep looking down and blushing and doing this thing with your fingers..." he imitated the gesture. "You've got so much to be proud of! You're the princess of the Hyuuga, you can use the Byakugan, you're one of the best students in the academy, and-" he cut himself off when he noticed the fresh bowl of ramen in front of him, sucking back a huge mouthful of noodles. "-and you're really pretty too!"

Hinata flushed so deeply and suddenly, it actually hurt. "P-pretty?" she stammered.

"Believe it! I mean, I don't have that good of an eye for pretty girls 'cause I haven't hit puberty, but..." he winced at the Academy lesson that had explained puberty to him.

"You.. haven't?"

"Nope." he said this through a mouthful of ramen.

"T-then why are you a-always asking S-Sakura on a date?" her blush darkened tenfold, but it couldn't be unsaid.

Naruto shrugged. "She was the first pretty girl I saw in the Academy; I like seeing her smile; She's obsessed with Sasuke and I wanna snap her out of it... Lots of little reasons."

A second bowl was set in front of Hinata then, and she turned to face it shakily. "I had no idea..." she mused aloud. "Naruto-kun... I guess I'm so shy because... I really admire you."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked as he turned to face her, with the ramen noodles in his mouth now dripping broth onto his pants. "You admire me? Why?"

"E-everyone ignores you or bully you, and you s-still smile. You're all alone but you're happy. You don't resent anyone for bullying you, and you come to school every day saying you'll be Hokage, and they'll all have to respect you then. That's why. You're so strong, Naruto-kun, strong like a Hokage."

"Wow... that's gotta be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me... so, aren't you concerned with what they all say about me? How I'm a vile demon and all that?"

"No way!" That was the strongest voice he'd ever heard her use. "You're not a demon, Naruto-kun. I don't care who says what about you. You'll be Hokage one day, I never doubted it."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan. I'm sure you'll get really strong too."

X

Two Years Later

"Clone Jutsu."

A perfect illusory copy of Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke, grinning proudly and flipping a thumbs up to Iruka. This. the result of two years' worth of chakra control training, shocked everyone in the classroom except Hinata, who beamed. _And now we'll be Genin together, Naruto!_

Iruka blinked. Naruto blinked back, still grinning. "You pass, Naruto. Next!"

He sighed in relief and took his seat next to Hinata. "You did it, Naruto!"

"_Yeah_!" Naruto shouted, throwing a fist in the air. This got the attention of every student in the class. "That headband's gonna look great on me, believe it!" He took the pair of goggles off his forehead and shook his spiky blond hair vigorously.

Mizuki scowled at the back of the room. _Time for plan B. Steal the Hokage's Scroll myself. _

X

Naruto smirked mischievously, as he placed the chalk eraser atop the door in anticipation of his new sensei's arrival.

_"Every year, the graduating prodigy, deadlast, and most promising genjutsu specialist are placed together on a team. Upholding that tradition, this year's first Genin team will consist of the top student Sasuke Uchiha, the weakest student Rock Lee, and the student with the greatest potential for genjutsu, Sakura Haruno. Team Seven, your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."_

_"Our next team, I'm proud to announce, was assembled by the Hokage himself! Allow me to introduce Team Eight: taijutsu specialist Hinata Hyuga, ninjutsu specialist Naruto Uzumaki, and tracking specialist Kiba Inuzuka. Your sensei will be the son of the Hokage himself, Asuma Sarutobi!"_

"Isn't Kakashi the one who's late for everything?" Kiba groaned, once again. Said Jounin had showed up and whisked away the only other remaining team, mere minutes ago. "It's been three freakin' hours... Naruto, what are you _doing_?"

"I'm pranking the son of the Hokage!" he set the eraser in place and returned to his seat.

"No Jounin is ever gonna fall for a stupid prank like that!"

Hinata spoke up. "Asuma-sensei's coming. I can see him with my Byakugan... he doesn't suspect a thing."

"Hinata, you're helping him with this?"

Her only reply was to shush Kiba, who groaned again.

The door opened, and the eraser landed with a puff of chalky dust on Asuma's head.

Kiba gaped in total disbelief. Hinata giggled, blushing and covering her mouth with her hand. Naruto laughed loud enough to be heard throughout the building.

"Okay, first impressions." Asuma took a drag on his cigarette. "I gotta say I'm happy I got you guys instead of Ino-Shika-Chou. Nothing against 'em, but... the thing is, you three don't fit together like puzzle pieces, and that's why it'll be so engaging to train you." He turned. "Follow me, we're going to the roof."

"Asuma-sensei..." Hinata spoke up quietly, as the three freshly minted Genin got up from their seats. "What exactly have you been doing, for three hours?"

"Talking with Kakashi Hatake about your first few lessons." Asuma blew out a smoke ring. "So, Iruka tells me you were all decent students... heirs to three powerful clans. Naruto of the Uzumaki Clan, masters of sealing jutsu. Hinata of the Hyuuga Clan, greatest taijutsu users in the world via the all-seeing Byakugan. Kiba of the Inuzuka Clan, renowned ninja hound trainers and the greatest tracker ninjas in Konoha. You guys look promising." He took another drag on his cigarette. "So, do you guys know your elemental affinities for ninjutsu?"

(Flashback)

_"N-Naruto-kun..." Ten-year-old Hinata made her way through the crowd of students fleeing the classroom, wading through to Naruto's side. The blond Jinchuriki waited for her, smiling. "I brought some ninjutsu and taijutsu scrolls from the Hyuuga Clan library... anything that wasn't tied to the Hyuuga, since those jutsu require a Byakugan."_

_"Sounds great, Hinata-chan! Come on, Training Ground Seventeen is good for ninjutsu practice." _

_"Wait, Naruto-kun. I h-have something else." She held out a small white cardboard box. "T-these are chakra sensing papers, for learning our nature types. They're not expensive, but you can only buy them if you're already a ninja. I had one of my cousins buy us a few, so we'll know which elements to focus our training on."_

(End Flashback)

"Mine's Wind Release," Naruto declared proudly, puffing out his chest.

"'Cause you're full of hot air," Kiba replied, smirking.

"Bite me, Kiba. No, wait..." Naruto paused thoughtfully. "I take that back, 'cause you might actually bite me."

"Like I haven't heard that one a million times. A dog joke, how original."

"I have the Water Release," Hinata interrupted. "I don't know many ninjutsu, but I can use it to fight when I'm out of taijutsu range."

"I never bothered with nature types," Kiba said with a shrug. "Inuzuka Clan jutsu have always been enough for me."

"You might want to look into elemental jutsu, Kiba. Every Kage in history, Hokage or otherwise, has known and used their nature type." Asuma let a puff of smoke through his lips. "We're here," he declared, and opened the door to the roof. "Okay, everybody sit down. Let's talk a little more."

Asuma sat comfortably on the rooftop, and put out his finished cigarette. "My name is Asuma Sarutobi. I like cigarettes and working with my fellow Jounin. I hate..." he paused and sighed, "that moment when you have a cigarette in your mouth and a hand in your pocket, only to find that you left your lighter in your other flak jacket. I _hate _that. My hobby is shogi, it's my favorite game and I'm rather good at it. My dream, and you speak of this to no one, is to defeat Shikamaru Nara in a game of shogi. Now, tell me a bit about yourselves. We'll start with you, Naruto."

"My name," Naruto announced this loudly and with pride, "is Naruto Uzumaki! I like Hinata-chan and ramen, but best of all I like having ramen _with_ Hinata-chan! I don't particularly hate anything... My hobby is training with Hinata-chan, and my dream is to be the greatest Hokage, and I'll pull it off, _believe it_!"

Hinata blushed each time Naruto said her name, a fact not lost on Asuma. "Okay, Hinata, your turn."

Her eyes widened. "M-me? Okay... I'm Hinata Hyuuga. I l-like Naruto-kun, Ichiraku Ramen, and making progress with our training... I think the only thing I hate is the Caged Bird Seal. My hobby is training with Naruto, and I have three dreams. First, I want to see Naruto become Hokage. Also, I want to learn the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms... and my third dream is to end the use of the Caged Bird Seal. Someday when I'm head of the Hyuuga clan, I'll get rid of it forever." She took a deep but quiet breath, and smiled.

"That was interesting, Hinata. Alright, Kiba, you're up."

"I'm Kiba Inuzuka. I like Akamaru, beef jerky, and Inuzuka Clan jutsu. I hate cats. My hobby is doing just about anything with Akamaru, including but limited to chasing cats, learning new jutsu, and peeing on stuff." Kiba giggled. "I don't have any really crucial dreams, but I'd like to track down Akatsuki and capture them. That'd make me the greatest tracker-nin ever! And being Hokage would be nice, but Naruto's got dibs on it."

"So all three of you count training as a hobby? That's a good sign." Asuma nodded with a smile. "Alright, that's it for today. Go home, get some rest, and tomorrow morning, skip breakfast. You'll just end up losing it anyway. I'm gonna have to test you guys, and I won't make it easy. If you pass, you're Genin, and we'll start missions whenever you want. If not, you're headed back to the Academy."

The three twelve-year-olds winced at that statement.

X

Naruto slumped in unconsciousness against one of the three wooden posts that someone had placed in Training Ground Forty-Two. Here he had befriended Hinata, learned the Clone Jutsu, and once a year, took refuge from an angry mob. It seemed ironic and fitting that here was where he would become a true Genin.

He snored. Had he been awake, he would have felt Hinata's head shifting on his shoulder in response to the sudden sound, but both of them were asleep with the rising sun to their backs. She murmured something incoherent in her sleep, then fell silent again.

Kiba scratched Akamaru behind the ears. The white puppy yawned and stretched happily, then barked to greet Asuma, who sat down with a smirk next to Kiba. "How long have they been like that?" The Jounin asked quietly.

Kiba smirked back. "They were like this when Akamaru and I showed up."

"Okay..." Asuma chuckled quietly. "I'll test their reflexes, then." he stood, and took a defensive stance, ready to dodge any attack. "HEY! WAKE UP!"

"Wind Release!"

"Water Release!"

"Collaboration Secret Jutsu! HURRICANE BULLET!"

Asuma's eyes widened as the two shot to their feet, performing hand seals in sync as they shouted this. The fearlessness in Hinata's eyes was particularly shocking. Naruto performed the Air Bullet while Hinata performed the Water Bullet, and the two attacks melded together into a mist that somehow looked _sharp_. Asuma threw himself to the side, dodging the attack with ease. "Not bad, but you just wasted plenty of chakra when you could have just thrown a couple kunai. Now that you're awake, it's time for your exam." Asuma pulled two silver bells out of his pocket and jingled them. "Straight to the point. You three have an hour to get both of these from me. At the end of that hour, whoever's got a bell passes. Anyone without a bell is going back to the Academy, and if that's not enough, these bells are your tickets to lunch. Go without a bell, and you go without food." Asuma tied the bells to his waist, pulled out and lit a cigarette, and took two steps back. "Begin."

Naruto charged forward with a dramatic roar, and was kicked in the gut for his effort. "Ugh..." he crumpled.

"I thought you were the ninjutsu user on this team, Naruto." Hinata stood with concern in her lavender Byakugan eyes, and helped Naruto to a kneeling position.

"Yeah, you're right, Asuma-sensei," he coughed. "I gotta stop getting ahead of myself."

"Asuma-sensei..." Hinata looked up from a kneeling and coughing Naruto to face the Jounin. "I've never seen a Genin team with any less than three Genin, and no more, either."

Kiba's eyes widened as he immediately realized her point. _The bells... they aren't the point at all! _

Naruto listened to Hinata continue, having not figured it out yet. "But you only have two bells... and that's supposed to turn us against each other, but a shinobi team has to stick together..."

Naruto grinned with sudden comprehension. "We're supposed to take you down together!"

Asuma disappeared, replaced by a breeze and a few leaves. _The Body Flicker Jutsu! _Hinata settled into a relaxed Gentle Fist taijutsu stance, scanning the area in all directions with her Byakugan. "Kiba, I can't see him... can Akamaru detect his scent?"

Akamaru whined. "Sorry, we got nothing," Kiba replied. "He must be masking his scent. There's a jutsu for that, but it's an A-rank genjutsu. He's taking this seriously."

"Then so will we!" Naruto stood, having recovered from Asuma's kick. "When we find him, I'll use my Air Bullet, and maybe my Wind S-"

"No, Naruto," Hinata interrupted, timid but determined. "An assault like that just won't work. He's too strong and fast..." she blushed, and added, "But if we use _that _jutsu..."

"Yeah," Naruto replied solemnly. "It doesn't matter how good he is, if we pull that one off, he's done for."

"What jutsu are you guys talking about?" Kiba's voice shook very slightly. "If you think it can take out a fully rested and prepared Jounin... where the hell would you learn a jutsu like that? We've only been Genin for three days!"

"We didn't learn it," Naruto said proudly. "We made it up ourselves! Only we know it, me and Hinata, believe it! So... we should probably just use it as a last resort... you know, keep it between us."

Several minutes later, they found Asuma, who watched them approach over the hills and ditches of shattered rock. "You're gonna need real killing intent if you want to get these bells," the son of the Hokage proclaimed.

"All right! Hinata, are you ready?" Naruto called as he flew through the air.

"Yes!" Hinata replied cheerfully at his side. "Kiba-kun, wait for the signal!"

"No problem!" Akamaru barked as his master said this.

Naruto reached out and clasped Hinata's hand with his own. As always, she blushed at this, but it was crucial for this technique. "Get ready, Asuma-sensei!" Naruto called, as he built up almost all of his Wind Release chakra. Hinata closed her eyes and turned off her Byakugan, focusing her chakra into the Water Release. Their intertwined hands came apart, and they each formed a set of hand seals in sync. "Collaboration Secret Jutsu!" Naruto yelled with a gleeful grin.

"Water Release!"

"Wind Release!"

The sky darkened as the two melted their chakra together, and storm clouds gathered. They called out in stereo, "Snow Release: Snowstorm Battlefield!"

"Whoa," Kiba quietly observed as the snow began to fall. "They altered the weather... is this their awesome jutsu?" Akamaru whined, watching the two confront Asuma.

The Sarutobi Clan Jounin sighed. "Fine, I'll admit it. That's the coolest thing I've ever seen two Genin do, but it's useless. All this is gonna do is give everyone here a cold, and you're just about out of chakra, both of you."

Naruto and Hinata slumped forward, panting. "I've still got gas in the tank..." Naruto answered, but his voice sounded weary and tired. "...which is the whole point." He straightened and made six more hand seals. "Wind Release: Wind Scar!" Naruto slammed his hands down on the granite slab he stood on, sending out a wave of wind in Asuma's direction. _That jutsu is only a low C-rank... What's he up to? _The wind caught the falling snow and carried it, growing in size and breadth. _It's too wide! I can't just jump aside... _Asuma scowled and spat out his cigarette, using the Body Flicker Jutsu to move clear to the side of the Wind Scar.

Thunder clapped, and the storm disappeared with unnatural speed. Naruto panted, but stood proudly before his sensei, with no more than ten feet of distance between them. "What now, kid? You've got enough chakra left for maybe one D-rank jutsu, and I'm at a proper taijutsu range. Kiba's the only one with any real chakra reserves left."

"Yeah... that's the point..." Naruto laughed weakly, but Asuma took it as a bluff. He clasped his hands together in the dog hand seal, then boar, then finally the ram seal. "Transformation Jutsu!" A plume of smoke surrounded him completely.

Asuma blinked. "Pfft. That's it? A disguise?"

"Water Release: Water Bullet!"

Asuma prepared to dodge, but he turned to look at the attack and saw how weak it was, little more than a splash of azure water. _She didn't even have enough chakra to aim it right... It's gonna hit Naruto..._

The smoke of the transformation cleared, revealing an older, female, and _very _attractive version of Naruto, clad in an orange bikini and dripping wet. Asuma's eyes bugged out of his head, and blood trickled out of his nostrils. "So, Asuma-sama..." 'she' purred, "how do you like my Sexy Jutsu?"

Asuma simply stared, slack-jawed, until Hinata walked up and kicked him in the groin. He shrieked like a little girl from the sudden agony, and the Hyuuga princess named the technique, "Forbidden Taijutsu: Single Strike of Eternal Pain. Kiba, you can take the bells now."

"Hinata," Kiba replied as he plucked the bells from Asuma's belt and tossed one to her, "I never would've guessed you'd be the kind of kunoichi who'd kick her sensei in the balls."

"We're ninjas," she said sweetly and innocently, while Naruto returned to his normal form. "All we're supposed to do is complete the mission within the parameters set for us, and we protect our team above all else. That's as far as chivalry reaches into the life of a ninja."

Kiba whistled. "That's the best nindou I've ever heard." he blanched suddenly, and looked down at Asuma, who was rolling around on the ground in agony. "W-wait... was that the super-awesome jutsu you guys were talking about? A kick in the sack?"

"No way," Naruto said proudly. "Our ultimate jutsu is the Sexy Jutsu! A few more seconds of staring at it, and he'd have passed out anyway, believe it!"

"How the hell does Naruto get you to go along with stuff like this?" Kiba asked, clearly unimpressed.

"I guess... he just wore off on me over the years," she replied with a blush and a smile.

X

_Initial changes from canon:_

_Naruto doesn't know Shadow Clone Jutsu. Instead he's been training for two years with Hinata, and properly passed the Genin Exam. This makes Rock Lee the deadlast of the Academy, however Lee has already met Maito Gai/Might Guy, as in canon, and while his Jounin sensei is now Kakashi, the latter will be sending him to taijutsu lessons with Gai, the best in Konoha. _

_Lee, Neji and Tenten all graduated in the same year as the rest of the Konoha 12, hence they're a year younger than in canon._

_The Hokage intentionally put Naruto and Hinata on the same team. (Naruto requested this behind the scenes.)_

_This version of Naruto uses ninjutsu over taijutsu, rather than the other way round as in canon. He's still a hyperactive knucklehead, but he's a bit more clever thanks to befriending and training with Hinata. Hinata herself is slightly more self-confident, and both of them are somewhat more powerful and know more jutsu._

_You'll notice Naruto didn't mention liking Sakura or hating Sasuke in his speech to Asuma._

_The title, A Different Scroll, comes from Naruto learning the Clone Jutsu from Hinata's scroll rather than Shadow Clone Jutsu from the kinjutsu scroll._

**Please Review!**


	2. Land of Waves

Thanks to bcgcdak, *Forever-A-Guest,* Taijen, Tequoia, Ayrmed, Ryuujin96, Travis Jameson, and parthaker for reviewing. I will make a point to answer any questions in reviews that won't spoil the plot, so I'll start with:

bcgcdak: you asked where Naruto's chakra levels are at this point. Right now, he's at what I imagine to be an upper Chuunin level, but it's worth noting that the 'Snow Release' technique used in the first chapter is by far the most draining technique he and Hinata know. It's a simulation of the Ice Release kekkei genkai used by the Yuki Clan i.e. Haku, and its purpose is solely to amplify Wind and Water Release ninjutsu, although it does obscure vision a bit too. Without that kekkei genkai, the Snow Release is absurdly taxing on chakra and requires perfect coordination between Naruto and Hinata.

*Forever-A-Guest:* you asked whether this would be a harem fic, to which I must reply _no. _It's solely NaruHina, and will remain that way. Down the road, SasuSaku might make an appearance, but it won't be especially focused on. Said guest reviewer also mentioned Asuma having the Wind Release, which was a delightful surprise, so thank you, *Forever-A-Guest,* and thank you again for providing a name to the _Sexy Jutsu: Wet Bikini Technique_, which would have remained an unnamed variant of the Sexy Jutsu if not for you. I must say I rather like the name.

Tequoia: Naruto won't be learning Kaiten or Air Palm. They're linked to the Byakugan, though theoretically one could learn Kaiten with the level of chakra control earned through learning the Gentle Fist. Sorry.

Lee, Tenten and Neji did graduate at a different time than the Rookie Nine, but I decided to change that since having Lee get trained by both Kakashi and Gai interested me.

Travis Jameson: Naruto gets a weapon in this chapter, the Snow Release was absurdly chakra-draining, and I have plans for him learning fuinjutsu down the road.

parthaker: Naruto trained with Hinata, who has the Byakugan and the Gentle Fist, for two years to earn the chakra control necessary for a Clone Jutsu. Kiba has exceptionally keen senses as a member of the Inuzuka Clan, and has heard various Chuunin and Jounin talking about Kakashi Hatake being late for everything. I really should have mentioned that last chapter, so my bad. Naruto not being freaked out by the Uzumaki Clan reference was a research error on my part, and I'm sorry. I suppose I could explain it away with saying Naruto thought the Uzumaki Clan had lost their high status decades ago, and assumed Asuma was thinking the same way, and I'll run with that from now on, but honestly, I done goofed, and I'll be certain to avoid such mistakes in the future. Asuma expected Naruto to know his elemental affinity in particular since Naruto excels at ninjutsu in this story. Because of that, he just decided to ask all three about their nature types. In canon the Rinnegan is a legendary doujutsu as you said, but here I've tied it to the early Uzumaki Clan, who are a branch of the Senju, who are descended from the Sage of Six Paths. In other words, Pein has a naturally-developed Rinnegan right now, the first to awaken it in centuries. That change wasn't a mistake, I planned it and I'm hoping to get somewhere with it.

sasukelikesthed: _believe it _is going to be staying because it's easier for me to add to a sentence than _dattebayo_. I know a lot of people don't like English dub, in particular Naruto English dub, so I'm sorry about this.

Last chapter, this story was added to 15 favorites lists, 32 alert lists, and 3 communities. Thank you all for this amazing reception.

X

Naruto, being the container of the Kyuubi, son of the Fourth Hokage, and likely the greatest prankster in Konoha's history, had found himself sitting before the Third Hokage more times than he cared to count. The old man had been there for him since his birth, and was the closest thing to a father figure Naruto had ever known.

Now, however, he was uncomfortable here, if only for the sake of his friends. Kiba and Hinata sat to either side of him before the Hokage's ancient desk, and they too looked worried. The Third's son, their Jounin sensei, had spent the previous day in the hospital, having lost a worrying amount of blood through the nose and having suffered a kick to the groin so vicious, it would have made Madara Uchiha himself wince.

The Hokage entered the room, wearing a solemn expression and puffing on his ever-present clay pipe. "I'm sure you three are wondering why I've called you here. I'll start by mentioning that Asuma has told me-"

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama please don't punish them it was all my idea-"

"Naruto." The Hokage silenced the Genin, sternly but not angrily. "As I was saying, Asuma has told me you did exceptionally well in your bell test, deploying several original jutsu, collaboration techniques, and fantastic teamwork. He did divulge to me the exact nature of your strategy, and I must say I'm impressed, if a little amused."

Naruto blinked, his mouth not quite shut properly. "You're... impressed?"

The Hokage nodded. "It isn't why I called you all here, however. First, I must talk to you specifically, Naruto." The Hokage withdrew a sealed envelope from his coat, marked with the black spiral seal of the Uzumaki Clan. "Your mother left you the contents of this envelope, to be given to you once you obtained the legal status of an adult. In this case, you did so by becoming a shinobi."

Naruto took the envelope. "It's from... my mother?"

"That's right. Please, however, open it at a later time, as we have another matter to discuss." The Hokage puffed on his pipe with a benevolent smile. "You three have shown exceptional promise, and Asuma has asked me to give you a C-rank mission immediately."

"Whoa," Kiba breathed. "A C-rank? Already? That's awesome!"

"Believe it," Naruto added.

"You'll be escorting an carpenter by the name of Tazuna to his home in the Land of Waves. His homeland has been having a problem with bandits, and you'll be protecting him and his workers until he finishes his current project. He's promised to give C-rank pay to each of you upon his safe arrival in the Land of Waves."

Naruto, elated, would spend the next few minutes in a daze, only snapping out of it once he and his teammates stepped out into the sunlight once more. It was then that he recalled the envelope from his mother, and he opened it shakily.

_Naruto Uzumaki-san,_

_Enclosed in this package is the estate of your mother Kushina Uzumaki. As the last Uzumaki in Konoha, you are now the sole owner of the Uzumaki Clan Manor, to which the key is also enclosed. In the main bedroom of said manor there are two trunks that have been left for you, awaiting your arrival for twelve years now. One bears the seal of the Uzumaki, and contains the assets and various heirlooms Kushina Uzumaki bequeathed to you on her deathbed. The other bears the mark of the Hokage, and contains what little your father Minato Namikaze was permitted to leave you. Regrettably, the vast majority of his estate was used to rebuild Konoha after the destruction wrought by the Kyuubi no Kitsune, which was decided upon by the Fourth Hokage prior to the arrival of the Kyuubi and your birth. _

_Sincerely, _

_Danzou Shimura_

Naruto dropped the envelope and letter. Hinata looked down at the fallen papers with concern. "Naruto? What's wrong?" She stooped and gently picked up the papers, trying not to read anything, but the name _Danzou Shimura _jumped out at her. "N-Naruto?" she reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. "Please tell me, what's wrong?"

"My dad... my dad was..." his voice shook uncontrollably with the shock of it all. "See for yourself," he said finally, and sat down on the ground.

Hinata scanned through the letter carefully, her eyes widening with each sentence she read. She read the letter twice, then looked up at Naruto with shock in her eyes.

X

_My father was the Fourth Hokage. _

Naruto sat on the polished oak floor of his new bedroom, in front of a cherrywood trunk with the kanji for _fire _burned into the lid. Said lid had been opened, and Naruto now had a folded white haori in his lap. The note attached said:

_Claiming to be the son of a dead Hokage isn't something you can expect to get away with, Naruto. Still, wear this and they might just believe you._

_Love, Dad._

He unfolded the haori, noting the pattern of flames along the bottom. This was an authentic copy of Minato Namikaze's haori, probably one of his spares, since he had been wearing one in battle against the Kyuubi_. They actually had this all set up for me, before I was even born. They knew what was coming, and they made sure I'd have all of this when it was over... _Naruto started crying. It wasn't something he did often, but he never tried to supress it when the tears came. He decided that since he cried so rarely, the times when he did were somehow _important._

It was then that he noticed an uncomfortable tingling in his eyes, and he stood up, making his way into the bathroom connected to the master bedroom of the manor. He looked in the mirror, blinking away tears and discomfort, but he could see nothing wrong with his reflection in the mirror.

He looked down at his father's haori in the mirror. "I'm gonna make you guys proud," he said aloud to no one, then sniffled. "I'm gonna be Hokage..." He unzipped his neon orange jacket, shrugging it off and replacing it with the haori of the Fourth Hokage. "...believe it!"

X

Tazuna took a swig of sake and scowled. He turned and glared at the Hokage. "I paid for four ninjas. I'm looking at one ninja and two useless brats. At best that adds up to three people." he hiccupped. "Can't you idiots even count?"

"Don't worry, you've paid for four ninjas and you will have your money's worth. You will be safe." The Hokage chuckled. "And the fourth is on his way."

"What's so funny?"

"It's just ironic... 'the Fourth is on his way.' You wouldn't understand, but it's probably the most ironic sentence you've ever heard."

Hinata and Kiba exchanged glances, while Asuma puffed on his cigarette, completely at ease. "Kiba-kun, can you smell Naruto?"

"Yeah, he's almost here," Kiba replied with a sniff. Akamaru barked in agreement. "Took him long enough, though."

"Maybe he's been talking with Kakashi," Asuma joked.

The doors to the Hokage's office opened, and Naruto entered. The Third blinked as he immediately noticed the haori Naruto wore. Underneath it he wore his favorite shirt, black with a fiery orange spiral on his chest, and pants of the darkest orange anyone had ever seen on Naruto. "Sorry I'm so late, everyone," he said with a soft smile. "I got here as fast as I could, believe it, but I slept in by accident." sheepishly, he looked down and scratched the back of his head.

There were two reasons for this. One, his new bed in his parents' manor was incredibly comfortable. Two, he'd opened the Uzumaki Clan trunk just before he went to bed. There had been envelopes he could open but didn't, a scroll he was completely unable to pry open, and most importantly a mound of gold coins filling the entire trunk, which was big enough to cram two or maybe three people into. It was like something out of a pirate movie. This left him wide awake until well past midnight.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata greeted him happily. _He looks so handsome, and heroic... _she blushed as the thoughts crossed her mind.

"Hey, Hinata." he turned to face Tazuna. "You must be the bridge-builder Tazuna. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of Konoha and your bodyguard for the next month or so." He bowed politely.

Tazuna opened his mouth to spit out another insult, but then Naruto's words registered, and he realized the slick little bastard had threatened him. _Your bodyguard for the next month _translates as _your life and well-being are in my hands for the next month. _"...Whatever. Keep me alive until the bridge is built, and I'll pay you. That's as far as this goes, we don't have to be friends."

"Fair enough. Let's get you home."

_Naruto... _Kiba stared as the jinchuuriki passed him by, smiling but not grinning. _What the hell happened to you? You were never this subtle, about anything! Your clothes, how you talk, even that stupid grin..._

"N-Naruto?" Hinata spoke up and walked beside Naruto. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Never better, Hinata." he let out one of his famous gleeful grins.

"B-but what was with you and Tazuna?"

"Oh, that. I know by looking at Kiba that this _teme_ was bothering you, so I wanted to tell him off, but a Hokage would be more... uh, what's the word? Tactful."

"And where did the coat come from?"

"My dad left it to me." Naruto beamed. "Oh, that reminds me..." he reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out an odd-looking kunai, with a bright yellow hilt and a three-pronged blade. "Flying Thunder God kunai. I have a whole bunch with me." He handed it to her, and she took it. "My dad somehow used these to teleport, but he left me a letter saying I'd have to learn fuinjutsu to understand how."

"The Hiraishin," Hinata breathed. "The Flying Thunder God Jutsu." she handed the kunai back. "That's an S-rank jutsu that only Hokage have ever learned. It's legendary."

Naruto waved his hand. "Keep it, I have spares. Besides, unless I learn the jutsu, it's just a really cool kunai."

"Thanks, Naruto." she smiled, and stashed the kunai in her own weapons pouch.

Asuma passed the Genin and Tazuna to lead the group out of Konoha. "Come on, everyone, let's pick up the pace a little," he said as he lit a cigarette. The same tailwind currently blowing Naruto's haori around would also carry his cigarette smoke, so he had to lead the group.

Naruto grinned with pride when they passed the gates of the village, and nudged Hinata with his elbow. "This is my first time leaving Konoha. What about you, Hinata?"

"It's a first for me too," she answered softly.

They continued to chat for a few minutes, until Naruto spotted something unusual ahead. _It's summer... it hasn't rained in weeks, and the ground around us is dry... so what's with those two puddles? _He drew a Hiraishin kunai. "Hey, Hinata, how are you with kunai these days?"

"Huh?" _We trained with kunai a week ago, Naruto... what are you thinking? _she pulled out the kunai he had given her. "I'll show you. What should we aim for?"

"See that thing ahead of us?" he pointed, and Hinata's eyes widened. His heart skipped a beat. _She sees them! _"Aim for that."

_That disguise is a ninjutsu, no doubt about it. Enemy shinobi! _She threw her kunai, and Naruto did the same. A kunai stabbed into each of the puddles, getting the attention of Asuma, Kiba and Tazuna. One merely turned red with blood, but the other transformed into a very angry ninja with a kunai in his left shoulder.

"You bastards! You _killed my brother_!" He lunged forward in a blind rage, armed with a metal clawed gauntlet on his right arm. Attached to the gauntlet was a chain covered in blades that trailed out uselessly behind him.

Naruto shuddered at the feeling of helplessness that was suffocating him. _What is this... a genjutsu? No, I... I can barely breathe! _The ninja sprinted toward him furiously, his clawed arm raised for an attack. _It's killing intent! I've never felt it before, it can't be simulated in training. He's going to kill me!_

"Eight Trigrams!" Hinata lunged past Naruto and poked the missing-nin in the chest twice, once with each index finger. "Two Palms!" she poked him in each shoulder. "Four Palms!" A poke to the forehead, solar plexus, right hip, and left cheek. "Eight Palms!" She leapt away from her stunned opponent, and withdrew an ordinary kunai from the holster on her right thigh, throwing it directly into the missing-nin's throat.

He was replaced by a mossy log and a puff of smoke.

Asuma put out his cigarette and leapt into the trees. He returned after roughly a minute with an unconscious missing-nin over his shoulder. "Tazuna!" The bridge-builder jumped at his name being called so sharply. Asuma dropped the beaten shinobi at his feet, and pointed at the surviving Demon Brother. "Explain this. Now."

Naruto shivered, his eyes wide and locked on the missing-nin's limp form. "I... couldn't even move..." he stepped toward his sensei numbly.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata laid a hand on his shoulder. "Just take a deep breath, relax..." he did this, and she smiled. "It's all right, Naruto. It's over."

"I couldn't move, Hinata. I just froze." he looked down at the haori he wore, which he suddenly felt unworthy of. "What if... what if this happens to me every time?"

"Killing intent affects everyone differently, Naruto-kun. Remember, we learned that in the Academy? Some people freeze the first time, but it almost never stays with a trained shinobi beyond that. Next time, you'll be ready for it."

Naruto looked up and smiled shakily. "T-thanks Hinata. You were amazing, by the way. The Eight Trigrams... it was awesome."

She smiled and blushed. "Thanks. I've only reached Eight Palms, but one day, I'll get to Sixty-Four."

Tazuna spent the next few minutes recounting his story, explaining his quest, Gatou's villainy, and A-rank missions being far above what the Land of Waves could afford. "I'm not sorry for what I did. An entire country, my home, is relying on me to build my bridge and save them, so damned if I wouldn't do this all over again. Please, help me. I... I can pay you for an A-rank once your mission is complete! Wave has vast potential for exporting luxuries, and the international market knows that. When the bridge is built they'll be lining up to buy our goods, our economy will _explode_!"

"I can't just accept a deal like that, Tazuna. I'd need the approval of the Hokage, but I can make you a deal for now. We'll accept C-rank pay to take you to the Land of Waves, and send a message to Konoha upon our arrival. Ideally, that means we'll return home and be replaced by a squad of Jounin or even the ANBU Black Ops." Asuma lit a fresh cigarette. "That's the best I can offer you, no matter how much I sympathize with your intentions."

Tazuna nodded. "It's enough. Building that bridge means more to me than anything, and I don't care who keeps me alive until the job's done. If the Kyuubi no Kitsune offered me the finished bridge in exchange for my soul, I'd make that deal in a heartbeat."

Naruto sneezed.

"...That won't be necessary, and Bijuu don't buy souls," Asuma replied, and glanced at Naruto. The blond Genin was stooping to pet a pure white rabbit that was remarkably comfortable around people. "Everyone, get ready to fight. That rabbit belongs to someone nearby; shinobi use animals like this as messengers and occasional distractions."

Naruto stood and drew a Flying Thunder God kunai. Kiba pulled Akamaru out of the collar of his hoodie and set him on the ground, and Hinata activated her Byakugan. Naruto brought the kunai to his mouth and declared, "Wind Release: Wind Blade." He breathed out chakra in a steady stream of wind, creating a scimitar-like blade of wind chakra around the kunai, and wielded the newly formed sword with both hands. "I won't freeze up like that ever again! _Never_! Whoever's out there, I don't care how much killing intent you hit me with! I _won't_ falter, I _won't_ give up, and I _won't _freeze like a _coward! Believe it!_"

An evil laugh echoed throughout the forest around them. "_Hidden Mist Jutsu_."

The air grew thick with white mist, and Naruto bared his teeth in frustration and supressed fear. "H-Hinata," he called, "can you hear me?"

"I'm right here," she answered, mere feet away. They were completely unable to see each other.

"Damn it... we can't fight in this." He raised the sword over his head and gathered his chakra, slower than he could with his hands not occupied with his weapon. "Wind Release: Wind Scar!" He brought the weapon down, but before his sword could touch the ground and release the jutsu, a massive sword intercepted his swing. Naruto found himself staring into the masked face of Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

"Thought you'd blow away my mist with the Wind Release, huh kid? Not bad, but you're not the first to think of it." Zabuza chuckled darkly. "The Wind Blade and Wind Scar are nice little jutsu, too. I take it Konoha Genin aren't quite as pathetic as I've heard."

"Shut up!" Naruto barked, and pushed Zabuza away, though it took extreme physical effort to budge one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

"Oh, I get it. You lost it in front of the Demon Brothers, and now your little ego's bruised? Do you even know who I am, kid?"

"I said _shut up_!" Naruto lunged with his sword, but Zabuza knocked the ethereal weapon aside with total ease. The Wind Blade was dispersed, leaving Naruto with just the kunai inside.

"Naruto, stand down! Team, protect Tazuna, and I'll deal with this guy!" Asuma produced his signature daggers and engaged Zabuza, pushing Naruto aside to do so. _This is bad... Zabuza Momochi is easily an S-rank missing-nin. I don't stand a chance, in fact Kakashi Hatake might be the only Jounin in Konoha who could take him. But if I distract him, I might be able to buy the team enough time to escape. _"Wind Release: Erasing Wind." A strong but harmless wind blew out from Asuma in all directions, pushing the mist away a considerable distance. Hinata sighed in relief; being a Hyuuga meant her ability to see an opponent was even more precious.

Naruto looked at his teammates over his shoulder, then back to Asuma, who was battling Zabuza with two daggers, and losing ground with worrying speed. _He can't do this alone. _"Kiba, use any ranged jutsu you've got. Hinata, Phoenix Flowers." Naruto threw his kunai, and Zabuza deflected it, but Naruto started making hand seals while he did. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!" Naruto cried, and shot a blast of deadly, forceful wind from his outstretched hands.

Zabuza disengaged, leaping out of Asuma's melee range to deal with the threat of an A-rank jutsu. He batted the attack aside with his famous sword Kubikiri Bouchou, but in the brief moment his vision was obscured by his own sword, Hinata began spitting out small homing fireballs by the dozen. Zabuza scowled as he was forced to dodge and block the _pesky little _attacks, as he thought of them.

Asuma, with renewed courage, dashed toward him with his daggers coated in chakra. Zabuza blocked his attacks, and detected one of the blond brat's weird kunai flying at him. He leaned back, out of the path of the kunai, and smirked at Asuma, who stumbled forward. Zabuza planted a kick in Asuma's gut, and the Konoha Jounin fell.

_Now! _Naruto grinned, and threw a second kunai. Zabuza saw it coming and moved out of its path long before it reached him, but Naruto shouted, "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Zabuza's eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar name; the jutsu had been created by the Third Hokage and was known only in Konoha. Even then, only a few instructional scrolls existed, and the Hyuuga Clan's copy had mysteriously disappeared about a year ago. No one had noticed, the Hyuuga dedicated themselves solely to their legendary taijutsu.

The kunai copied itself as it flew, into no less than three hundred deadly kunai which all kept the momentum and aim of the original. Zabuza winced, and took cover behind the blade of his massive sword. A few kunai grazed him, but it was of little concern. "Not bad, brat!" Zabuza laughed, and glanced down at Asuma. Naruto had made sure every kunai passed over his sensei safely. "But I'm still standing! I'm still gonna kill you all," he finished in a low and menacing voice. The missing-nin raised his sword with both hands, preparing to bring it down on a prone Asuma.

As he began his swing, Naruto shouted out the name of another jutsu. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!" Zabuza swore as his blade descended. _I can't dodge mid-swing! _He relaxed, however, when he saw that the Air Bullet's trajectory was off, and that was his mistake. Rather than hitting Zabuza, it struck Kubikiri Bouchou, sending it and its wielder spinning wildly through the air, until they struck a tree with enough force to knock out the infamous missing-nin. Zabuza's hands went limp and released his sword.

Asuma got to his feet, lunging toward Zabuza as fast as his legs could move, which was quite fast. He raised his right hand, and with it a chakra-wreathed dagger, aiming to stab and finish the unconscious Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Two steel needles, however, reached their target before Asuma was even halfway to Zabuza. The missing-nin's eyes flew open, bloodshot and terrified, but the senbon were already in his neck. Zabuza felt himself die with perfect, nightmarish clarity.

A masked ANBU, from Kiri judging by his mask, revealed himself as the attacker by emerging from the trees. "I've been tracking this bastard for weeks. Thanks for your help."

Asuma simply hunched over and coughed a bit of blood. The pain from Zabuza's kick had finally cut through his adrenaline rush. _Damn... at least it wasn't a kick in the balls again. _

Naruto let his hands fall to his sides, grinning. "Thanks for _your _help," he replied. "I mean, we could've finished him, but thanks anyway." _I did it! I didn't freeze up at all! _He beamed and flipped a thumbs-up. "We had this guy beat, believe it!" _And I didn't even use up a quarter of my chakra. At this rate I'll be Hokage in no time! I feel so powerful!_

"Damn right!" Kiba added. "Three freakin' Genin! I don't know who that guy was, but when we get back we'll be legends!" _But I gotta learn some ranged jutsu, and fast._

Hinata remained silent, but she too was smiling.

"You know what?" the tracker-nin asked. "I really believe you. You beat him, and I'll make sure you get sent a part of the bounty. You earned it, kids." the ANBU slung Zabuza's limp body over one shoulder, and retreated over the treetops without saying goodbye.

Asuma looked up in shock and alarm. "Damn it!" he fell to his knees and pounded a fist into the ground. "He took the body!"

"So?" Naruto asked, clueless.

"So, he was an impostor! Kiri's ANBU tracker-nin are trained to incinerate the bodies of killed missing-nin, every time, without fail! They only take the heads, and it's considered treason to so much as pick up the body!" Asuma punched the earth again.

"Zabuza," he said slowly, "is alive."

**Please Review!**


	3. Shiro Kyuuden

_Reviews for this chapter came from *Guest,* philipindustry, *Forever-A-Guest,* Ghaunadaur, Ryuujin96, Dragon Man 180, *Ninja-San,* The Magical Wizard of Ninjas, and Tequoia._

_Ryuujin96 and Tequoia both commented that Kiba is being left out of fights. This was intended, though it won't be repeated. In the fight against Asuma, Naruto and Hinata did the fighting alone because they have exceptional teamwork they wanted to show Asuma. Kiba hung back because they asked. In the fight against Zabuza, Kiba realized he can only attack at taijutsu range, which is a really bad idea against Zabuza. By the time they have a rematch, Kiba will have a working knowledge of ranged jutsu, and he'll play a much bigger part in the team from then on._

_*Forever-A-Guest* suggested Hinata leaving the Hyuuga and moving into the Uzumaki compound with Naruto. That would cause a huge fight between Naruto and Hiashi, and I already have a very particular huge fight planned between them, so..._

_No one asked this, but I'll mention it in case anyone's wondering: You remember that scene in canon where Naruto turns into a Fuuma Shuriken so Sasuke can throw him past Zabuza? This version of Naruto was paying attention in class, including history, so he knows that the past Hokage could think like this, and they did it even when they talked. As he put it last chapter, a Hokage is tactful. We'll be seeing a bit of this theme in this chapter and later in the story._

_I'll reiterate that any and all questions in reviews will be answered, on the one condition that they not spoil future plot. That's pretty much my nindou now._

X

Zabuza woke, and immediately groaned at the pain of two needles, still embedded in his neck. He reached up and ripped one out, then the other. "Haku, you cold little bastard. You could've at least pulled the needles out." he sat up and looked around, finding himself to be in a shack so ruined, he could see between each individual rotting plank. He had been laid on a table that looked ready to collapse under his weight. "Haku?"

"Behind you." Zabuza turned, and saw his fellow missing-nin seated in a comfortable chair, the only piece of furniture in the shack that looked serviceable. His fake ANBU mask sat in his lap. "How the hell could you let yourself get beaten by one Jounin? You're getting soft."

"It wasn't the Jounin. He was no problem, but that blond kid..."

"What?" Haku put on an exaggerated look of surprise. "You didn't get beat by a Jounin, but three Genin? _Konoha_ Genin, no less?"

"Don't push me, Haku." Zabuza scowled through his mask, and turned away so he could properly slouch forward. He ran his hands through his spiky black hair. "That kid, the blond Genin... Of everyone there, not counting me, he was the closest thing to a real ninja. Cheap shots, double teaming, _strategy_. He protected his team but didn't let them slow him down, didn't hesitate to shoot when his sensei was right next to me. And aiming for my sword instead of me... clever." Zabuza chuckled darkly. "Shame I've gotta kill him, and all his friends too. It's a waste really, but better him than us."

"I don't believe this," Haku teased. "You really are going soft."

"Bullshit. You can call me soft if the kid lives, which he won't. Just because he reminds me of myself doesn't mean I won't eviscerate him."

X

Asuma found Naruto and Hinata sitting on a boulder, taking a break from their training to share a few boxes of the local takeout ramen. Despite the events of the previous few days, they were smiling, as was usual for them in this situation. Asuma was halfway through his latest cigarette, and he'd decided to bring two months' supply of them, just in case this mission lasted far longer than expected.

He looked around at the kunai embedded in large trees, the smaller saplings ripped out of the ground with Wind and Water Release, logs clearly chopped to bits with a Wind Blade kunai, and small patches of grass burnt by the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. "...Not bad," he observed, and blew out a small cloud of smoke.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei," Naruto greeted without looking up from his meal.

"Hey, Naruto." Asuma took a seat on the boulder, with Naruto between him and Hinata. "Can you explain something to me?"

"I guess so," Naruto mumbled, only half paying attention.

"It's illegal for you to know the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto choked on his ramen and started coughing. "Where'd you learn my father's jutsu?"

When he was done choking, Naruto steeled himself and looked his sensei in the eye. "I'd rather be executed than tell you that," he said, deadly serious.

"Ah. Thank you for that perfectly clear explanation." Asuma smirked.

Naruto went white. "H-huh?"

"The only reason for you to hide that secret would be to protect a friend who gave you the jutsu." Hinata started blushing faintly, since she knew where Asuma was going with this. "Specifically, a friend in one of the noble clans that were given scrolls of the jutsu. You only have one such friend, and she happens to be from the only clan that would have little interest in that scroll, since they focus on taijutsu." Hinata's blush spread over her cheeks and darkened. "Don't worry about it, though. Since the Uzumaki Clan has an adult member once again, they're to be considered a valid noble clan, albeit one with little influence in Konoha. If there isn't already a copy of the scroll in your clan's library, there will be soon."

Asuma smirked at their expressions. "I gotta say I'm impressed by the devotion and loyalty you two have for each other. Hinata, you stole top secret documents from your own clan, and I doubt Naruto even asked you to. There's no way for him to have even heard about the jutsu before you brought it to him. And you, Naruto, seemed legitimately ready to die, just to protect that secret for Hinata." He cocked his head slightly to the side. "This seems to run a little deeper than two Genin working as a team."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, at the same time Hinata shakily mumbled "I-it was n-nothing, I was j-just helping a f-friend..."

"Oh, come off it." Asuma chuckled. "How long have you been dating? Two years now?"

Hinata jumped at that. Naruto quickly replied, "No way! If I was dating Hinata, I'd be taking her somewhere nicer for lunch. Ichiraku Ramen is great, but it's not... you know... it doesn't fit." Naruto looked down thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I'm a rich noble Uzumaki heir now... I could afford to do that... Hey, Hinata?"

"Y-yes, N-Naruto-kun?"

"I saw this really fancy restaurant a little while ago called Shiro Kyuuden. You wanna go there for dinner tonight? I mean, Gatou's probably the owner but..." He cut himself off when he saw Hinata slump forward and fall to the ground, spilling what was left of the ramen she'd been furiously eating. "What the...? Hinata, are you okay?"

Asuma shook his head and laughed. "Thank me later. I gotta go train Kiba in the Fire Release."

"Since when does Kiba have Fire Release?"

"Since maybe ten minutes ago, when I gave him a chakra-receptive paper." Asuma turned to walk away, calling over his shoulder, "Oh, and don't worry, Hinata should be fine. She just fainted."

Asuma returned to Tazuna's house, and found his remaining student arguing furiously with Tazuna's grandson. "That's a coward's way of thinking! You don't give up if you wanna be the alpha male. You know what you are? You're a meek little omega wolf, born to be the lowest of the low. You've got no spine, brat."

"That's not how it works at all!" Inari shouted back. "People aren't wolves!"

"I know a whole clan of ninjas that would disagree with you. We're just the same as wolves. We hunt and thrive in packs, we have alphas like me and omegas like you, and we spend our whole lives looking for three things. Power, a mate, and the next meal. Don't you ever forget that, kid. We're exactly like wolves."

"Gatou's too strong," Inari said in a low voice. "He'll kill you all! He's not a wolf, he's a demon!"

"He might be a demon, but I'm a fricken _ninja_, kid. I like my chances." Kiba turned to see Asuma approach. "Hey, Asuma-sensei! How're Naruto and Hinata doing?"

Asuma supressed a chuckle. "They're doing pretty good." Inari started crying loudly, and ran away. "What got into him?"

"He's a wimp, it's that simple." Kiba glanced over his shoulder in distaste. "I think he might grow out of it, though. There's hope for him."

"Poor kid," Asuma observed. "Living here, under Gatou... it can't have been easy."

Kiba nodded. "We can always learn to rise up, though, to be strong. No matter how young we are or where we grow up, we can learn to be strong. I just hope he figures that out one day." Akamaru gave a soft bark of agreement. "So, Fire Release. What's the plan with my training?"

"We'll start with a basic Fire Ball Jutsu. It's a simple, effective projectile, meant for damaging or outright killing the enemy, a staple Fire Release jutsu than even Jounin with Fire Release will use. It's easy on your chakra and still deadly."

X

It was dusk, the sun having just slipped past the horizon, but the Shiro Kyuuden's white, polished walls still gleamed. It was like a temple, or a palace out of legend. Being an expensive and luxurious restaurant, it was near the heart of the tourists' district Gatou had ordered built and cut off from the rest of Wave. It was a massive source of income for the corrupt businessman, but since Naruto planned to overthrow him by the end of the month, he had no qualms about paying for one little meal here.

Hinata stared blankly up at the extravagant, two-story restaurant. She and Naruto stood side by side. The walls in front of them were concrete and covered completely in white marble, so perfect that Hinata found herself looking for signs of a genjutsu. "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?" Naruto looked away from the Kyuuden and back to Hinata, who was blushing and poking her index fingers together, for the first time in nearly a year. "What's wrong, Hinata?"

"Um..." she trailed off and looked down. "I-is this..." _a date? _She winced and blushed even deeper. "Um... never mind. L-let's just have a n-nice night."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it'll be great." They made their way to the entrance, two doors of solid white marble, thin so they weren't too heavy, and engraved with the image of a phoenix with wings spread wide.

The entire lower floor wasn't a restaurant at all, but a forum of some kind. Naruto whistled as he looked around; the inside wasn't genjutsu-white as the outside was. The floor beneath them was hardwood, spotless and polished until it looked like glass. In each corner of the room was a fountain, in the shape of a gilded lion rearing over a pool of glistening blue water. The water trickled out between each lion's bared teeth.

In the center of the room was a tightly spiralling staircase to the next floor, with water flowing down around the staircase. An arch was installed over the base of the stairs to deflect the water for people to walk through. As soon as Naruto and Hinata spotted it, however, they saw a waiter dressed in a black linen robe, who was approaching through the arch and didn't look happy. "Hey," Naruto called with a grin and a wave, "Uh, table for two?"

"How old are you, brat?" The waiter glared at him. "Ten? You need either a reservation or one and a half million ryou cash to dine here."

"I'm twelve," Naruto replied, "And I don't like your tone." He turned to Hinata, and whispered very subtly, "Go along with this," and winked. He turned back to the waiter with feigned but convincing fury, channeling the insulting words Zabuza had spoken to him mere days ago: "Do you even know who we are?"

"Should I care?" The waiter replied sarcastically. "You're dressed like commoners, am I to assume you're in disguise or something?"

"Why, yes. You are! How else could we stroll through Wave without being swarmed by the masses? I am..." He paused to consider an alias, but managed to make it sound dramatic, "Ichigo of the Kurosaki Clan, and this is my fiancee Rukia of the Kuchiki Clan. You said _one_ and a half million ryou, correct? I suppose I _could_ just hand it over, it's petty cash to me after all, but to be quite blunt, I don't like you. You called me a brat. So," he declared, and paused again, "I'll try this again. Table for two, please, and after our meal, you are to bring Gatou, or whoever it is that runs this... establishment, to our table that we might speak to him. He really ought to have a list of noble clan names handed out to you people."

The waiter blanched. _Kurosaki... Kuchiki... the names do sound a bit familiar... some far-off noble clans, maybe? _"M-my apologies, Kurosaki-sama, Kuchiki-hime, but the Shiro Kyuuden is blacktie only. I have to ask you to leave and return in formal wear."

"Leave? I think not. It's getting late, and speaking for myself, I'm quite hungry. Don't you agree, Rukia?"

'Rukia' nodded. "Yes... it's best you simply escort us to our meal," she said with as much steel in her voice as she could. Naruto clasped his hands together, and Hinata followed suit, getting the idea. "Transformation Jutsu!" They called in stereo, and the waiter blinked in surprise.

_Ninjutsu? Are they shinobi nobles, or did their parents buy them ninja tutors or something?_

Naruto had transformed into a version of himself wearing a deep orange, unadorned robe, with a white belt tied in a bow at his waist and white trim at his collar, wrists and ankles. Hinata's clothes were replaced by a pristine white kimono with subtle lavender swirling designs. "Is this acceptable?" 'Ichigo' asked.

"It's fine," the waiter replied after hesitating. "Table for two, right this way."

He led them up the spiral staircase, and sat them at a table comfortably secluded in the corner, with a view out the window to the ocean surrounding the Land of Waves. "K-Kurosaki?" Hinata finally asked when they were alone.

"It's a reference to a manga I read once." Naruto looked down at the table and smiled thoughtfully. "You know, my parents decided I wasn't supposed to get access to the Uzumaki Clan funds until I was a legal adult. I think I know why now." he nodded to the waiter in the distance. "If I could've talked to people like that from birth, with no parents to keep me in line, imagine the kind of brat I'd be today, assuming I hadn't bankrupted the clan by this point."

He looked around at the upper floor of Shiro Kyuuden, which had a distinctly Western theme to it. The place was lit with chandeliers and softly scented candles, and the tables and chairs had legs carved in elaborate swirls. each table was stained dark, varnished, and polished, to be beautiful and easy to wipe clean. The table faintly showed the rings of the tree it had been made from, fitting since it was circular.

"What's this?" he reached out and plucked a white ceramic bottle from the dead center of the table.

"It's sake," Hinata explained. "Expensive restaurants sometimes provide free alcohol, so their rich customers are less conscious of how much expensive food they're buying. It's a low tactic, but effective."

"I don't get it. How does that work?"

"Naruto, don't you know what alcohol is?" she took the bottle gently, and set it down where it had been. "It's a drink intended for adult consumption, that dulls your mind slightly, and gradually takes away your inhibitions."

"Huh." He picked up one of the ivory saucers next to the bottle, filled it with sake, and fired back his first drink ever. "Oh dear Kami that's disgusting," he choked.

"You're not supposed to drink it that fast!" Hinata said, shocked. "Watch." she poured a saucer of the alcohol, and a single sniff told her it was sake of the same quality Hyuuga nobles would buy. She brought it to her lips and sipped it delicately.

A rosy blush spread over her cheeks in a matter of seconds, and she giggled. "I can only handle one saucer of this stuff before bad things start happening," she said in an eerily cheerful voice.

Naruto put his empty saucer over the bottle as a lid. "Bad things?"

Hinata mumbled something very quietly. Naruto only caught the phrases "Drunken Fist," "Dad's birthday," and "ruined the whole party." He decided not to press the isssue; from the look in Hinata's eyes he could see it wasn't a happy memory.

The same waiter from before brought them two scrolls, his demeanor markedly changed. He actually smiled when he noticed the alcohol-induced blush on their cheeks. "Kurosaki-sama, Kuchiki-hime, here are your menus. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear, that Gatou-sama has accepted your invitation, and will meet you after your meal. He's a polite man and will not intrude on your romantic evening, which I personally hope you enjoy."

"Your cooperation is appreciated," Naruto replied stiffly.

"I would also," the waiter continued, "like to apologize for my behavior earlier tonight. It was an error I will take great care not to repeat."

"Good." Naruto unfurled the scroll and read through the menu, and the waiter bowed.

"I will return in a few minutes, when you have made your decision," he said, and retreated hastily.

"I kinda feel bad about doing this to him," Naruto admitted. "I feel... evil, you know? Maybe I should apologize, when we leave."

"Sorry, Naruto-kun, but I really think that's a bad idea. It could blow our cover completely."

He nodded solemnly. "Good point."

"But why did you do it? If he'd seen through your act, we might have had to fight, and that would risk the mission. I mean, it was convincing, but... why put that much on the line?"

Naruto looked down sheepishly. "Sorry, Hinata. I hadn't thought of it... I just wanted to give you a good time."

Her eyes widened, and she blushed. "You did that... risked our lives... to take me to dinner?"

"Aw, man," he mumbled, even more apologetic. "Now I feel _really_ bad. I could've gotten us both killed..."

"No," Hinata replied firmly. "Don't think like that. It was reckless, maybe, but... it worked. And it was really sweet of you." The blush from the alcohol darkened sharply, and she murmured something incoherent, before opening her menu and finding something that looked suitably delicious.

"Umm..." Naruto stared down at his own scroll, squinting in his confusion. "Huh... nothing here is anything like ramen... I have no idea what to pick."

"Just skip straight to dessert," Hinata advised. "I know plenty of Hyuuga nobles who do that all the time. In fact, I think I'll try it myself..."

As if on cue, the waiter returned, smiling amicably. "Have you made your decision, Kuchiki-hime, Kurosaki-sama?"

"Yes," Hinata returned the smile. "I'll have this foreign confection." she pointed to the image on the scroll. "Cheesecake... I'm not at all familiar with the name."

"An excellent choice," he said with a nod, and scribbled it down. "And you, Kurosaki-sama?"

"Hn." Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "I think I'll try it as well. Bring two of them."

The waiter bowed and left the two to their own devices. Naruto asked, once they were alone, "Any idea what we just ordered? I never looked at what it was."

"It's... how should I put this?" She stared at where her scroll-menu had been. "From what I read, it's a brick of heavy, sweet soft candy, made with a lot of milk and sugar. It's really rich, a small one should be enough for the whole meal." She paused, then added, "It's impossible to eat with chopsticks, you need a foreign utensil called a fork. I've seen those before, they're not hard to use, but it's a strange concept..."

Almost twenty minutes later, the waiter laid their meal before them, and Naruto grinned down at the cheesecake. _It smells... delicious! _The waiter inclined his head with a soft smile.

As he turned away, Naruto caught a glimpse of the smile turning into a sneer. "Rukia, hold on a moment," 'Ichigo' said, with a subtle hint of urgency. As the waiter left, Naruto reverted to his true character. "Let me check for poison. I don't trust this."

Hinata's eyes widened, and she set down the fork that was almost to her mouth. "P-poison?"

"I think that guy got the Bleach reference."

"I don't understand..."

"Our names. They're a reference to a manga, and I guess that waiter made the connection after he let us in." Naruto made a hand seal, and held one hand over each cheesecake. "Yeah. There it is, a slow-acting poison coupled with a truth serum."

"Truth serum?" Hinata blinked. "Of course! Gatou's going to come out here and talk to us, expecting us to confess we're shinobi, and tell him if we have allies here, or a mission to kill him..."

"Typical manga villain's move, too," Naruto added. "Rather than send a proxy or even a convincing body double, he'll come right out here and meet the two people he _knows _are the ninja heroes. Well, actually we can only get that far if he knows we've eaten the food. And we will."

"Ah... medical ninjutsu."

"I never was much good with it," Naruto admitted, "but I can eliminate a poison when it's concentrated to one place like in food. With a person it's different, flowing all around in the blood... so much harder." he held his hands out over the food again, and sent a soft green light out from his palms. "...There. To be safe," he added, "dodge that spot there." He pointed to the center of the cake. "That's where the poison was injected."

"That's impressive, Naruto-kun."

"Not really. Anyone with the slightest training in medical ninjutsu could manage it, even if they sucked as bad as I did. Thanks though." he took a bite of his cake. "Get past the poison, and this stuff is pretty good."

"Mmm..." Hinata sighed as she took a bite as well. "Not bad at all..."

When they were half finished their meal, a short, balding man in a Western business suit approached them, snatching a chair from a nearby, unoccupied table and placing it between Naruto and Hinata. He sat, smirking with satisfaction. "I see you've enjoyed your meal," he sneered.

"Gatou, I presume?" Naruto replied coldly, then took another bite of his cake. "Yes, the meal is quite nice."

Gatou chuckled. "So, 'Ichigo Kurosaki,' what brings you to the Land of Waves?"

"Oh, we've mostly been sightseeing," Naruto looked him in the eye with a false smile and waved his hand. "I couldn't help but notice the impoverished and oppressed people that surround this little tourists' attraction."

"Who are you two, really? I know you're not who you say you are."

Naruto glanced at Hinata, who nodded subtly. "My name, and this is the truth, is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a Genin of Konoha, and sole heir to the Uzumaki Clan, former main clan of the ninja village of Uzushio, in the Land of Whirling Tides. I suppose you could say we were royalty there."

"And your little girlfriend?" Gatou sneered, liking where this was going.

"I can speak for myself," Hinata said with a piercing glare. "I'm Hinata Hyuuga, also a Genin of Konoha. I'm a princess of the Hyuuga Clan, wielder of the Byakugan doujutsu, and I can kill you by poking you in any one of the three hundred and sixty-one chakra points on your body, which I can see quite clearly."

Naruto, oblivious though he was, clearly noticed her not objecting to the term _girlfriend_.

Gatou nodded at her introduction, eyebrows raised over his black sunglasses. "And why are you really here?"

"Why?" Hinata echoed. "To enjoy this delicious cheesecake, of course." she held up a forkful of the confection, and popped it in her mouth.

"So you're not here to kill me?" Gatou asked.

"Straight to the point then, hm?" Hinata replied.

Naruto saw the oppurtunity, and seized it. "No, we're not here to kill you. That said, I wouldn't mind ending you at all. You're a blatantly rude little man, since you sent your waiter to tell us you'd meet us _after _our date, then interrupted us without warning."

_Date? _Hinata turned to look at Naruto, her heart pounding immediately. _Did he just say date?_

Satisfied, Gatou withdrew a small bottle from the inside pocket of his suit. "I can't have guests dying in my restaurant... this is the antidote for the poison that was in your meal." He stood.

Naruto called, "Wait." Gatou froze mid-step. "Consider the fact you're alive payment enough for this meal, particularly since you poisoned it."

Gatou turned, fury written on his face, but he forced himself back into a cool, smug demeanor. "Fine. Get out of here," he spat.

Naruto stood, and Hinata followed suit. He took her hand, drawing a quiet gasp from her, and the two walked side by side toward the staircase. Naruto made certain to knock his shoulder against Gatou's. The short man was no taller than the twelve-year-old Genin, so the hit connected and knocked him aside. He growled, but held his peace. _Little ninja brat! I hope you choke on that antidote!_

As soon as they were outside, the Transformation Jutsu dispelled, and their clothes returned to normal. Naruto looked up at the clear night sky, and the moon shining in it. "You know, that was pretty exciting. Maybe we should do it again sometime... _mmf!_"

Whatever he had been about to say was cut off by Hinata's lips meeting his. His eyes widened momentarily, but he quickly found that the kiss felt... right, somehow, meant to happen. He reached forward and ran his hands carefully through her silky black hair, and she sighed into his lips at the sensation.

She abruptly broke off the kiss, and looked down, blushing a brighter red than she had ever before. "T-that was the b-best night of my l-life," she gasped.

For once, Naruto was also blushing almost as red. "M-mine too," he said after a long pause. "So..." he scratched the back of his neck. "Any ideas for where we could go next time?"

**Please Review!**


	4. To Save Her!

_Reviews for last chapter came from anarion87, *Forever-A-Guest,* Steam Powered Crow, Dragon Man 180, and daniel 29._

_I done goofed. I said Naruto and Hiashi would 'fight' but I didn't mean 'battle.' Not even Naruto can get away with beating the tar out of a noble clan head. But anyway, we might be getting a little ahead of ourselves. For now, enjoy the conclusion of the Land of Waves Arc._

_I'm going on vacation with no access to the internet for a few days, so chapter 5 will take longer than these past few chapters. Sorry._

X

Naruto and Hinata lay strectched out in a bed of grass, deep in the forest of the Land of Waves. Their forehead protectors rested over their eyes to blot out the bright noon sunlight. Their heads and shoulders touched gently, and they smiled up at the sky serenely. This, Naruto decided, was the happiest he'd ever been.

It had been only two weeks since their date at the Shiro Kyuuden, but Hinata had already begun to come further out of her shell than ever before. Whenever they trained, she'd removed her hoodie. The t-shirt beneath that bore the Hyuuga emblem was the only thing without short sleeves he'd ever seen her in. At first, she'd been blushing as though she had just stripped to her underwear, but gradually, she'd gotten used to it. The light breeze brushing her bare arms had become something enjoyable.

An hour ago, they'd been developing and practicing a new supplementary ninjutsu, but there were no signs of damage to the ground or the trees. And yet, when it was complete, it would be a fearsome weapon.

The sound of crunching dead leaves was audible with their ears so close to the ground. Both of them realized someone was coming, and the sound didn't fit Kiba or Asuma. Both would either have heavier footfalls, or none at all if they were being stealthy. This was a child their age, small and light on his or her feet.

Hinata whispered, "Byakugan." She saw a slim, pale girl with long black hair enter her field of vision with a wicker basket. A closer inspection revealed a knife in the basket, suitable for cutting the stems of herbs but also with a potential for killing. The girl was giving Naruto and Hinata a look of confusion as she approached.

The girl stopped at the feet of the two shinobi. "...Excuse me, but... what are you two doing out here?"

Naruto sat up, catching his forehead protector as it fell from his eyes. Hinata did the same, but deactivated her Byakugan first. "Just relaxing," Naruto replied.

"But why here?"

Hinata blinked. _That voice... I know it from somwehere... _

"We were training before this. We're shinobi," Naruto said proudly, not recognizing the missing-nin without a mask. "We could've hurt somebody if we did it near civilians."

"Shinobi..." the girl echoed softly. "But you're so young... no older than me!"

"We're trained from childhood," Hinata answered, "Because we learn best at a young age. Imagine when you learned to speak. It was easy because you were born into it." _Where have I heard this voice before?_

"My name is Haku," the girl introduced herself.

"I'm Hinata. This is Naruto," she replied courtesously. "So, what brings you out here, Haku?"

"I..." the girl paused. "I have devoted my life to help one who is precious to me. He is... very sick, and I'm here to find the herbs to cure him."

Naruto nodded, and stood. _Someone precious to her... I can respect that. _"We'll help. What herbs are you looking for?"

Haku took a small, worn book out of the basket, and flipped it open to a marked page. "This is the most important one," she showed him the page.

Hinata stood and looked at it as well. _But that's... shinobi use it on poisoned wounds as a substitute for medical ninjutsu. It counterracts paralyzing and weakening toxins, not lethal ones, and not illness. _

"Are you sure that's not the wrong herb?" Hinata asked delicately. "What exactly is this man suffering from?" _Listen closely! Listen to her voice..._

"He... came home one day with a bloody scratch on his neck..."

This time, Hinata got it. "It's _you_!" She shouted, and stepped back to initiate a Gentle Fist stance. "Zabuza's partner!"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he started making hand seals immediately. _Hinata's right, it's her! _"Wind Release: Wind Scar!"

"Ice Release: Frost Shield." The missing-nin stopped Naruto's jutsu effortlessly, raising a sheet of ice like glass from the earth. The small blades of wind scattered harmlessly against the shield, which then crumbled. "Please understand, I don't want to kill anyone. Even though Zabuza-sama is far more precious to me, no life is worthless."

Naruto's and Hinata's eyes widened. _That power... it's so much like our Snow Release... is it a kekkei genkai?_

"Heads up, punk!"

Everyone looked up to a tree branch high above, where Kiba and Akamaru were perched. "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" He ignited his breath with chakra and blew forth a hundred small fireballs at Haku. The missing-nin deflected and dodged all of them with her Frost Shield and her speed. "Fire Ball Jutsu!" He launched a larger fireball that briefly consumed his opponent in an explosion. Kiba flung himself off the branch, using the Transformation Jutsu as he did to turn into a small rock and land with a thump on the ground.

Haku emerged from the fireball as it died down, still unharmed. "Please stop this. I didn't come to fight, I just want the herbs."

Naruto and Hinata briefly faltered at the desperation in Haku's tone, but steeled themselves when the missing-nin reached into her basket and pulled out a pouch, filled not with herbs but with senbon. She charged toward the Konoha shinobi, flinging handfuls of needles. "Wind Release: Erasing Wind!" A blast of wind from Naruto scattered the senbon needles harmlessly.

Kiba's transformation ceased, and he threw himself at Haku, spinning wildly. "Passing Fang!" he roared as he struck, sending Haku flying.

Haku rolled to her feet, with a shield of ice levitating in front of her chest. Kiba threw a kunai at her, which likewise struck the shield harmlessly. He formed a hand seal sequence none of the other three ninja had seen before, and brought his index and middle fingers to his lips. "Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!" he blew out a steady stream of ash and gunpowder, from which Haku was forced to retreat. Kiba clicked his teeth together, and the cloud of ash ignited into a fireball that momentarily blinded her.

When Haku's vision cleared, three Kibas were sprinting toward her on all fours. The first punched her, but the fist passed straight through her, revealing itself to be a Clone Jutsu.

"Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

Haku turned to deal with the extremely deadly ninjutsu, allowing what she thought was another clone to strike her. Kiba sent her sprawling to the ground, and both of them fell past the Air Bullet. Kiba pulled back his fist to punch her again, but Haku shoved a fistful of senbon into his gut, and he howled in pain. He rolled off of her and tried to pull the cluster of needles from his flesh, while Haku stood to confront the other two Genin. The remaining clone punched her in the face, drawing blood from her lip.

"I'm not prepared to deal with this," Haku contemplated quietly. _These herbs don't matter that much. I can resupply some other time, s_he thought, and called, "Substitution-"

The remaining clone transformed into a white puppy that spun through the air, peeing on her as it did.

"-Jutsu?"

He reappeared at the edge of the forest, in place of a log that had sat against an old, dying tree. "Was that... urine?" he asked himself incredulously.

Meanwhile, Kiba was sitting up, having pulled the senbon out of his belly. Hinata set to work on healing the cluster of tiny wounds, which were together enough to be a danger to the Inuzuka Genin. "That was amazing, Kiba-kun!" she beamed. "To have come so far with the Fire Release after mere weeks of training..."

"Yeah, it was pretty cool, huh?" Kiba smirked, then winced at the pain in his abdomen. "That last jutsu, the Ash Pile Burning... it's strong, but it takes a lot out of me. Asuma-sensei said he made it up himself." He groaned, and Akamaru came to his side, whining in concern. "Not bad for two weeks though, huh? I got that guy pretty good."

"Guy?" Naruto and Hinata questioned in sync.

"The ice dude."

"Haku?!" Naruto shuddered. _And I was thinking to myself, 'she' was almost as pretty as Hinata! _

"Yeah. He looked like a girl, I know, but nothing can fool an Inuzuka's nose. Guys and girls smell completely different." Kiba winced again at the pain, but then it receded.

"Okay, you're good to go," Hinata declared with a smile. "You're lucky those were senbon and not a kunai. I wouldn't have been able to repair that kind of wound."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan." Kiba stood, and picked up Akamaru, placing the white ninken puppy inside his hoodie. Akamaru barked happily. "I came out here to see how your training was coming along, but then I felt that third chakra signature..."

"...And showed up to save us, which was awesome," Naruto finished, and grinned. "We could've handled... him..." he paused. "...but thanks anyway. It was really cool, believe it."

Kiba nodded. "So, did you guys pick up any new jutsu since we came here?"

"Well, we came up with a few variations of existing jutsu," Hinata admitted. "Naruto, should we show him one?"

Naruto drew a Flying Thunder God kunai, poked the air in front of himself, then dropped it. Hinata blinked once, then deciphered the hidden message and nodded. She drew her own kunai and threw it at a tree. She used a Substitution on her own kunai mid-flight, and maintained its momentum, punching the air between herself and the tree to show the offensive potential of the jutsu. Naruto then drew a second kunai, poked toward himself, and let it drop, hitting the first with a clinking sound. Hinata nodded again, and he threw a kunai at a tree to her side, but she used a Substitution to switch places with it. The kunai slammed into the tree while she reappeared past it.

Kiba whistled. "Not bad," he observed. "You actually took the time to weaponize the Substitution Jutsu..."

"It takes the enhanced vision of a Byakugan to do it consistently, but yes," Hinata admitted. "I can use it to close in on an opponent and use my Gentle Fist, or seemingly pass through enemy weaponry unharmed."

"Ice Release: Sealing Ice Dome."

Everyone's eyes widened, and each of them tried to react, but it was too late. A sheet of ice grew up out of the ground, surrounding them from all directions and completing a dome around them in a matter of seconds. Haku's voice echoed inside the dome. "I'm sorry, but Zabuza-sama must complete his mission unhindered by you. This dome will maintain itself until the air inside is depleted of oxygen past survivable levels. You will not die, but Tazuna will, and your sensei will likely join him. Please, forgive me."

"Teme..." Naruto growled. "You think this thing can hold us?"

"If you break free, I will be forced to kill you. Think about that for a moment; no one wants that." Haku fell silent, and Naruto concluded that the missing-nin had left.

"Wind Scar!" Naruto roared, and slapped his hands down on the ground. Blades of wind lashed out at the section of the dome in front of him, but they only chipped the surface. "Damn it!"

"Naruto-kun, wait!" Hinata cried, as he was about to form an Air Bullet. "This dome is made of ice, maybe Kiba can melt it with the Fire Release."

"I can try..."

"Hold on! That's it!" Naruto cried triumphantly. "Kiba, you can use a fire jutsu to use up the air in here, while we hide in a Water Encampment from Hinata. The dome is set to come down once there's not enough oxygen to breathe!"

Kiba nodded. "I know a jutsu that'll work. Hinata, get ready."

"But..." Hinata paused. "What if it's set to a specific time, not to measure the oxygen level in here? We'd kill ourselves!"

"Maybe..." Naruto looked down at his hands, and made a few seals. "Wind Release: Erasing Wind." A blast of fresh air swept past her from Naruto, and she noticed that it didn't have a scent at all, unlike the air already in the dome which smelled of grass and ice. "We can create our own fresh air inside the Water Encampment, and the dome shouldn't be able to detect it."

"Alright, let's do it!" Kiba replied. "Asuma-sensei and Tazuna-san are counting on us to save their lives. We can't waste time like this. They can't handle Zabuza and that ice guy without us!" He made a short sequence of hand seals. "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" he breathed out a plume of shimmering fire, which struck the wall of the dome and smoldered there.

Naruto fanned the flames by shouting, "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

"That's enough," Hinata called. "We can't risk burning ourselves to death in here... Water Release: Water Encampment Jutsu."

A small, thin dome of water sprang up around her feet, growing to consume her, Naruto, and Kiba with Akamaru. It didn't need to be thick to hold in the air, which made it easier for her. The Second Hokage had been able to create a full Water Wall without an existing source of water, but she wasn't the Hokage. She was a Genin, and to conserve her chakra she made use of the water in the ground.

The flames spread over the grass, and smoke began to fill the dome. Hinata kept her hands clasped together in a seal to maintain the smaller dome of water around the Genin. The ice dome remained unharmed, despite the chakra-fuelled flames growing to fill it with smoke and heat. "Wind Release: Erasing Wind."

The gust of wind was indeed fresh, breathable air, but it tore through Hinata's wall of water. She whimpered with pain and exertion, trying to reform the bubble of water, but it wasn't meant for this purpose, and it collapsed. The three Genin took in a breath of smoke, and fell.

"Kiba..." Naruto wheezed, "Kill the flames!"

The Inuzuka did this with a simple wave of his hand, but the smoke and depleted air remained. "Smoke rises," he coughed. "Heads to the-" he coughed again. "-dirt!"

Naruto and Hinata dove to the ground shortly after he did. Akamaru leapt out of his hoodie so his partner could lay down without crushing him. "Wind Release: Erasing Wind!"

The three of them savored the fresh air, clearing their lungs of as much smoke as possible. "That... sucked," Kiba observed, panting. Akamaru whined, apparently agreeing.

"We can still do this." Hinata stood, and added, "Byakugan." At once, her pale doujutsu eyes scanned the entirety of the dome, searching for a weak point in the structure. Her first guess had already been proven right: the dome was laced with Haku's chakra. _Now, look for the point where there's the least chakra in the structure... There! _She memorized the spot, turned to face it, and turned off her Byakugan to conserve chakra.

"Hinata, what'd you see?" Naruto noticed her rapidly making hand seals with no sign of slowing down, and he began to recognize the pattern. His eyes widened as he realized what her new plan was.

"Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru... hold your breath," she ordered, and clasped her hands together in the final bird hand seal. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

Hinata opened her mouth, and out of it exploded a torrent of water that took the form of an angry-looking dragon. She'd only used this jutsu once before, and the chakra drain had left her unconscious for nearly an hour. That had, however, been a year ago, and she prayed that she was strong enough, even as she felt her chakra levels plummet. She watched the dragon ram facefirst into the weak spot on the dome, which she assumed had been the farthest point from Haku when he cast it.

Water began to fill the dome, as the dragon was destroyed by each impact it delivered. It roared and reformed from the water each time, while Hinata continued to expel more from her mouth. She was faltering. Sweat dripped down her face along with the splashes of water, and she was getting lightheaded. Finally she stopped generating water, and gasped in a deep breath. Pink and purple stars obscured her vision, and she distantly felt herself fall forward with a splash into two feet of water.

"Hinata!"

It took her a moment to recognize the voice as Naruto's, despite how loud he was screaming. That voice, coupled with the basic reaction to drowning, forced her to flail into a sitting position and cough up the water she had swallowed. She looked at where her Dragon Bullet had struck, and smiled. It was cracked badly. _I can finish this! _She stood, but the weight of her soaked clothes forced her down again.

Naruto locked eyes with her, and nodded to answer the question she hadn't asked. He turned to face the crack in the ice, forming hand seals. "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!" He punched forward, sending a blast of faintly white-glowing wind forward, and it spiralled as it flew.

His favorite attack, created by Shukaku the One-Tailed Raccoon according to legend, slammed into the weakened section of the dome, finishing what Hinata had started and opening a hole in the dome big enough for the three Genin. Naruto didn't hesitate; he made his way as quickly as possible to Hinata, shortly followed by Kiba. Together, two Genin carried the third between them, and exited the dome along with the water of Hinata's finished attack.

"And I thought I was so awesome 'cause I learned the Grand Fireball," Kiba said with disbelief. "That's gotta be the strongest jutsu I've ever seen. Way to go, Hinata."

"The last time she used it," Naruto spoke with concern, "might have killed her." Hinata promptly passed out in their arms. "She's strong, and so am I, but there are some jutsu a twelve-year-old Genin just can't handle. This kind of chakra exhaustion..." he shook his head. "She'll be out of it for a while."

Naruto and Kiba set her down on the wet grass. "What do we do now?" Kiba asked. "Do we go on without her? Stay here until she recovers?"

"I don't know..." Naruto ran a hand through his spiky hair, worried and frustrated. "Or, I do know, but I don't want to do it." She picked her up again, bridal-style, and set her gently in a sitting position at the base of a tree. "Hinata-chan..." He took off his father's haori, and draped it around her to keep her warm, then turned to Kiba. "Let's go."

Kiba nodded, and they took to the treetops in pursuit of Haku. Naruto had already drawn one of his father's kunai, and was now holding it between his bared teeth as he sprinted through the treetops on all fours.

X

Hinata woke, shivering under Naruto's haori. She gasped as she realized where she was, and remembered what had happened. _I tried to either break the dome or fill it with water... _She grasped the haori tightly. "I h-have enough ch-chakra," she thought aloud, stuttering and shivering, "t-to f-fight again..." she stood, and winced at the cold as the haori fell. She picked it up and put it on over her drenched hoodie.

"Byakugan." She scanned the area for signs of Naruto's chakra, then started using the telescopic range of the Hyuuga's doujutsu to search Tazuna's house. It was empty, but there were no signs of a battle and no blood. She guided her vision along the road leading from Tazuna's house to the bridge, and saw Tsunami and Inari with two of Gatou's thugs knocked unconscious at their feet. She moved her vision to the bridge, and found Naruto, Asuma, and Kiba up against Zabuza and the masked shinobi she now knew to be Haku.

She deactivated her Byakugan and headed to their rescue. More than once, she stumbled on a tree limb, still weak from using all her chakra for a Water Dragon Bullet, but pressed on. _I won't let this be, Naruto-kun. I won't let you fight this battle alone, not so long as I can stand!_

She broke through to the edge of the forest, not breaking stride at all. She leapt to the nearest road, and kept running. She blew past a startled Inari and Tsunami, pouring chakra into her legs for maximum speed. "So that's the power of a ninja," Inari breathed. "And we have four of them on our side! We can't lose now, mom, not even against Gatou." He flashed a toothy grin. "I'm gonna go, and get the villagers to help them!" _Just wait, Kiba-sensei, I'll be an alpha wolf after all!_

Hinata panted as she approached the bridge, and when it came into the sight of her deactivated Byakugan, she gasped.

Asuma was unconscious in a pool of blood, Kiba was fighting Zabuza alone, and Naruto was trapped in a dome of floating ice plates. Every inch of his body had been peppered with senbon needles. "Naruto-kun!" she screamed, and he turned to face her, eyes wide. She dashed closer to Haku's Ice Release, and when she was within a relatively close range, she cried, "Substitution Jutsu!"

Naruto appeared twenty feet outside the dome, and she took his place in the middle of Haku's ultimate jutsu.

"Hinata," the masked missing-nin greeted softly from within all twenty-one ice mirrors. "Naruto told me you were incapacitated."

"I can still fight!" she replied angrily. "Byakugan!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, Hinata. Does that mean you will force me to kill you?" Haku threw a senbon at her right hip, but she saw it coming with her Byakugan and dodged. "I will tell you what I told Naruto. Remain still, and allow Zabuza-sama to kill Tazuna. Do this, and I will not kill you."

"Did he accept that deal?"

"No..."

"Then I won't."

Haku sighed, and removed his mask. She could see that the missing-nin had tears in his eyes. "All these years of serving Zabuza-sama, and I have not yet taken a life. Please, don't make me do this!" He closed his eyes and let out a sob.

Hinata saw her chance, and seized it. "Water Release: Water Bu-"

Haku's eyes snapped open, wide with fury, and she felt herself getting stabbed in twenty-one different places, one for each mirror-Haku. _They were too fast... My Byakugan couln't even see them..._

"_Hinata!_" Naruto roared, and his desperation renewed his strength. He sprinted through a gap between two mirrors, and dove to her side as she crumpled to her hands and knees. Haku threw one more senbon, aimed at Naruto's heart.

Time seemed to slow down for Hinata. Unlike before, she could clearly see this needle, and she managed to move fast enough to intercept it, even though she had been on her knees. She coughed as it struck her in the center of her chest.

For a brief moment, she could hear nothing. No one spoke, no one even breathed, and oddly, she couldn't hear the heartbeat that had been pounding in her ears beforehand. Then she sighed, and fell.

Naruto screamed.

His eyes suddenly felt like they were on fire, and a voice, unlike any he'd ever heard before, thundered in his mind, **What would you do to save her? To erase this moment as though it had never happened to her?**

An aura of horrifying, visible red chakra consumed him, and the whisker marks on his cheeks thickened.

He closed his eyes, still screaming in the real world, but inside, a numbing, frightening calm had washed over him. The answer was obvious. _Anything. I'd fight, kill, and die. I'd do anything for her._

**Then you are worthy. Save her.**

The red chakra vanished, and Naruto opened his eyes. The mirrors, and their projections of Haku, seemed to move away from him in fear.

When he looked down at Hinata, saw the chakra reserves in her body badly depleted, and what little remained was fading from the world completely. He pulled the fatal senbon out of her heart, then looked up at Haku with his Rinnegan.

"I'm sorry..." Haku began.

Naruto dropped the senbon and held out his hand, wet with Hinata's blood and his own. "Deva Path: Shinra Tensei."

The mirror shattered, and its pieces were blown backward by an invisible force that clearly wasn't Wind Release.

The real Haku jumped free of another mirror, and retreated away from Naruto, who didn't follow. Instead he knelt next to Hinata, and formed a sequence of hand seals, none of which Haku had ever seen before. He laid a hand on her belly, and whispered words Haku was too far away to hear: "Outer Path: Rinne Tensei."

At the same time a spike of Naruto's hair at the edge of his forehead turned white, Hinata gasped. Haku's eyes widened. _That's... completely impossible! My senbon pierced her heart, she died!_

Naruto nodded to himself in satisfaction and stood, watching the other twenty-one needles being forced out of Hinata's healing wounds. She breathed heavily, her lavender eyes wide with disbelief and staring up at the sky through Haku's ice mirrors. "N-Naruto-kun?" she gasped.

"Hinata!" Naruto fell to his knees at her side. "Are you all right?" he called desperately.

She gasped again as he came into the line of sight of her deactivated Byakugan eyes. "Y-your eyes..."

"...they hurt," Naruto admitted. "What's wrong with them? Am I injured?"

"R-Rinnegan," she breathed.

His eyes, solid purple with a pattern of black, concentric circles, widened. _Shinra Tensei... Rinne Tensei... I thought I must have been channeling the Kyuubi's power, but... those were kekkei genkai?_

Haku saw his chance, and he created a new mirror, leaping into it and guiding it into place where the destroyed one had been. _He's powerful, but I must not let it stop me. Zabuza-sama is counting on me._

"Ice Release: Hailstone."

The twenty-one mirrors of ice grew together, into a solid ice dome like the one they had been trapped in before. A giant projection of Haku spoke: "This time, I must kill you. I'm sorry, but there's no way for you and Zabuza-sama to both live."

The walls began to thicken, growing inward toward Naruto and Hinata. The latter tried to sit up, but she was completely drained of chakra, so much so that she couldn't move. "Naruto-kun..."

"I'll stop him." he smiled down at her, and even with the shock of seeing those otherworldly eyes set in Naruto's face, she smiled weakly back. He clasped his hands together, and breathed in deeply.

**This jutsu will drain all that remains of your chakra, **said the strange voice from before. **You are not the Sage of Six Paths. Such an exertion, coupled with that of your previous jutsu, may well kill you.**

_But Hinata won't die, even if I do. If I had to pick one of us to die, I'd pick me._

"Shinra _Tensei_!" Naruto roared, and shoved both of his hands forward. The ice dome completely shattered on one side, sending the missing-nin inside it flying along with chunks of ice three feet thick.

Naruto collapsed next to Hinata, and his head landed in her lap.

"Naruto-kun!"

X

Kiba, meanwhile, was fighting Zabuza, which wasn't going well. He'd tried all of his Inuzuka Clan jutsu, and his Fire Release was near useless against Zabuza, who specialized in Water Release. He'd managed to watch out of the corner of his eye the battle between Naruto and Hinata and Haku. He'd come within an inch of death, both when Hinata died and when Naruto resurrected her. Now, though, all four of his allies including Akamaru in his hoodie were incapacitated, and Zabuza turned his back to face Naruto and Hinata.

"Hey!" he shouted in a panic. "Don't turn your back on your opponent!"

"Shut up, kid. You're prey, nothing more, and I'll be back to finish you."

Kiba had an idea. An idea horrifyingly similar to what Naruto might have come up with in this situation. _I can't believe I'm really gonna do this. _"Transformation Jutsu!"

Zabuza turned back to face him, amused. "A Transformation? This should be fun."

When the smoke of the jutsu cleared, there was no immediate sign of Kiba, until Zabuza heard the voice of a beautiful woman purr into his ear, "Come on, Zabuza-sama... let's have a little more fun before you go, hm?"

Zabuza laughed. "This is just pathetic. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren't you, punk?"

The missing-nin aimed his sword at the red markings on the woman's cheeks that marked her as an Inuzuka, and he bared his teeth under his mask as the hit connected... and passed right through.

A kunai stabbed into his right hip, and he turned to face Kiba with his eyes wide. "A simple, Genin-level Clone Jutsu, coupled with me transforming into a rock. Not bad, huh?"

"You devious little brat..."

"Shut up and die," Kiba growled, "So I can go save my friends."

Zabuza backhanded him, sending him flying. The kunai twisted in his flesh as Kiba let it go, and Zabuza gritted his teeth in agony. "This is a flesh wound, kid. It won't even slow me down."

"Damn it..." Kiba snarled, and reached for another kunai. _If I can just buy Naruto some time..._

Zabuza turned, and lowered his sword. Kiba followed his line of sight, and his eyes widened. At Wave's end of the unfinished bridge stood Gatou, along with maybe a hundred mercenaries armed to the teeth. "I expected these four to wear you down, Zabuza," Gatou began with a smirk, "But this is pathetic! Look at you. The high and mighty Demon of the Hidden Mist, so weak by now that we ordinary folk here," he gestured to the mercenaries, "Can just walk up to you and put you down." He snapped his fingers, and the mercenaries stepped forward, grinning.

"Kid... what did you say your name was?"

"Kiba Inuzuka."

"Right... Kiba, go grab your teammates and scram. I'll deal with these idiots, and we don't have a reason to fight any more."

"Then, shouldn't I help you?"

"No. Leave it to me, it should be fun." he hefted Kubikiri Bouchou. "You'd only be in my way."

Kiba nodded, and turned away as he saw Zabuza begin to sprint toward the mercenaries, laughing maniacally. Kiba stepped into the half-dome of cracked white ice, and nudged Naruto, then Hinata.

"Guys, get up. We gotta get out of here!"

"Kiba-kun... I can't get up. I can't move at all..." Hinata whispered weakly. "And Naruto-kun is..." she looked down to his head in her lap. "He hasn't moved since he fell."

"All right, we can handle this..." Kiba reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a soldier pill. Hinata opened her mouth, and he popped it in. She chewed it with a crunching sound, and sat up with a groan. Kiba picked Naruto up and slung the unconscious Genin over his shoulders. "You go get Asuma-sensei. I'll take Tazuna and Naruto back to Tazuna's house-" he turned to look at the mercenaries, and found to his shock that most of them were dead, attacked from one side by Zabuza and the other by the entirety of Wave, led by a boy holding a crossbow. "What the hell!?"

He recognized the boy as Inari, who had just finished cutting through the ranks of hardened mercenaries to reach his grandfather. _Well, damn. Kid might make a half-decent wolf after all. _As he thought this, he felt Hinata gently slide Naruto off his shoulders. "You can take Asuma-sensei instead, but I need to get Naruto to somewhere I can heal him. His chakra network is way too drained."

"S-sure," Kiba replied, and made his way to Asuma, who was next to Inari and Tazuna.

Hinata carried Naruto through the battlefield of Gatou's making, carefully dodging every blow near her with efficiency. The effects of the soldier pill would eventually wear off, leaving her even more drained, and would likely leave her unconscious for an extended period, so she had to make good use of the little energy the pill had given her.

Just when Tazuna's house was in sight, Naruto groaned weakly. "Hinata-chan?"

"It's all right, Naruto. We won."

"And we're alive?"

She smiled up at him softly. "Yes. We're alive."

"What about Asuma-sensei and Kiba?"

"Both fine. Gatou arrived, and Zabuza's probably killed him by now."

"Zabuza?"

"That's what I saw."

"Weird..." he observed, and passed out again.

**Please Review!**


	5. Jiraiya-sensei?

_I'd like to thank devilzxknight86, Ryuujin96, Dragon Man 180, Kingswriter, *Forever-A-Guest,* The Magical Wizard of Ninjas TWICE! and *Guest* for reviewing._

_Ryuujin96: I knew from the moment I yploaded Chapter 1 that Naruto was getting the Rinnegan, and I'm glad I haven't suffered tons of flames for it happening without warning. Naruto will be getting access to all five elements, but since he's so used to Wind Release, that'll remain his primary weapon. _

_Kingswriter: It's not likely Naruto will ever learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but if he does it'll be toward the end of the story, to be used in some epic final battle._

_*Forever-A-Guest;* Yes, I'm planning to give Kiba enough power to keep up with Naruto and Hinata, which'll come up in the Chuunin Exams which start in chapter 8. Hinata achieving a second level of Byakugan is a really interesting idea, one that I've consdered and might go somewhere with, but no promises. Kiba reveals his power-up in the Forest of Death arc. I did enjoy my vacation very much, thank you._

_The Magical Wizard of Ninjas: re: Fun Fact._

_The Magical Wizard of Ninjas (2): Kiba and Asuma know the name of the bridge. Naruto and Hinata haven't heard about it yet._

_Fun Fact: The finished version of Chapter 3 is actually the third draft. In the first, which I hated, I went so far as to have Minato and the Kyuubi commenting on the date from Naruto's inner world. The second was never written but was outlined, and I had ideas ranging from a drunk NaruHina getting kicked out of the restaurant to them assassinating Gatou. The end of the chapter just… wrote itself. I originally had no intention of them becoming a couple so early on, but I decided to run with it and I'm glad I did. _

_Likewise, the first, scrapped draft of this chapter had Naruto acting horribly OOC and arguing with Hiashi Hyuuga as soon as he got up out of his hospital bed. I'm trying hard to keep the characters in line with the original modifications I made to them; for instance Hinata being somewhat less shy thanks to Naruto, but as I've said, sometimes things like those earlier drafts turn up on my screen. _

_I'll also mention that Naruto's Rinnegan is not the same as Pain's. He'll use it in ways Pain didn't, and he'll likely still be weaker than Pain when they fight, but he'll be fortunate enough to have backup. _

_His Asura Path will not shoot missiles, in case anyone was wondering. _

NEXT UPDATE IS TWO CHAPTERS AT ONCE!

X

Naruto woke, panting, in a Konoha hospital bed. He was still sweating from his nightmare of being eaten by a giant, roaring orange fox. He looked around, horribly disoriented. He'd never been in a room like this before, his last few memories were hazy and incomplete, and everything in the room was _shining_.

"_Shinra Tensei." And then one of the ice mirrors was missing from the formation, and Haku was running away from him. _

"_Rinne Tensei." After that, his next memory was of looking down at Hinata, who was breathing again, looking up at him and telling him he had the Rinnegan._

_The Rinnegan?_

Naruto sat up, and brought a hand into his field of vision. "Whoa." His hand was glistening, pulsing with a dim yet clearly visible blue light. "Is this… my chakra?" he flexed his hand into a fist, then loosened it again. _Everything else is shining with light too... everything. It's like the walls and the floor have chakra too. Is this what Hinata sees with her Byakugan?_

"H-Hinata!" he remembered. _She died! I brought her back, I think, but is she still okay? _He leapt out of the bed, and made for the door, but before he reached it, it opened of its own accord.

The Third Hokage stepped through, smiling. "Good morning, Naruto-kun."

"Hokage-sama! Is Hinata all right?"

"She's fine. She was here earlier this morning, in fact." The Hokage gestured to the glass vase at Naruto's bedside, which held a single, bright orange rose. Where Hinata had found one of those, no one would ever know. "Both of you were suffering from severe chakra exhaustion, and to everyone's surprise, Hinata was the first to recover. The first thing she asked about was likewise, your condition, and I had to inform her you were still recovering. That was two days ago."

"How long was I out?"

"Eleven days. Chakra exhaustion like what you suffered is serious business. You could have died, but you're lucky. Your chakra network is surprisingly resilient." The Hokage reached out and flicked the spike of white hair at the edge of Naruto's forehead. "Did you do what I think you did, to suffer this much damage?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto reached up to the white tuft of hair. "I'm injured?"

"I suppose you should just take a look for yourself." From within a pocket of his robe, the Third withdrew a hand mirror. "I had been ready to use ninjutsu to wake you, in case you weren't yet awake, but the medic-nin who was attending you predicted you to wake up today, and I planned accordingly," he commented.

Naruto took the mirror, and looked down at his reflection. Two wide Rinnegan eyes stared back at him. "The white hair…" he finally asked after gawking for a while, "What happened there?"

"You forced so much chakra through your pathways at once that they were ruptured. I've only seen a shinobi's hair whiten like that once before, and it happened to his whole head. He was dead in a matter of hours." Naruto blanched. "Fortunately, whatever healing power you have was able to minimize the damage," the Hokage added quickly. "Your chakra pathways have recovered, as have you. You'll live. Perhaps a few years less than you might have, but you'll live."

"Does that mean I shouldn't use the Rinnegan any more?"

"No, it does _not_," the Hokage answered firmly. "With those eyes you have the potential to become one of the most powerful shinobi in the world… Just, use your powers carefully. And whatever jutsu you used, that put such a strain on your body, please avoid using it from now on. I doubt you'd survive a second use of it. Now," the Hokage continued, "come with me. Some very important people are very interested in what transpired in the Land of Waves."

"Wait!" Naruto followed him. "Can I see Hinata first?"

"Ah… that won't be necessary. Hinata's one of the people we're going to see."

"H-huh?" Naruto ran to catch up with the Hokage. "Wait up, Hokage-sama!"

X

Naruto was suddenly very aware that he was still wearing a hospital gown. Gathered in the Hokage's office were three faces he recognized: Hinata, the Fire Daimyou, and Asuma-sensei. There were also four whom he'd never seen before: an old man leaning on a cane with his face wrapped in bandages, a younger but still old man with a fluffy white mane and red marks on his cheeks, a man who was wearing white and blue Kage robes, hence apparently the Kazekage, and a man with black hair and pearly white eyes, wearing the Hyuuga crest on the right sleeve of his robes.

"Naruto," the Hokage began, and sat behind his desk. "Please give us the most detailed report you can of how you unlocked the Rinnegan, and what you did with it."

Naruto blinked. "Ah... it all started when me and Hinata were training in the woods," he began hesitantly. "We took a minute to relax, and this kid found us, and said he was looking for medical herbs. It didn't take long before we figured out he was working with Zabuza… you guys all know who Zabuza is, right?"

A collective nod answered that question.

"Right, so, this kid starts fighting us with an Ice Release, I guess it was a kekkei genkai, and then Kiba showed up and helped us fight him off. He came back a few seconds later and trapped us all in a dome made out of ice. We were able to break out of it…" he paused, and looked at Hinata. "No, Hinata got us out of it." She blushed faintly. "And me and Kiba left her to recover because she used up all her chakra."

Hiashi Hyuuga's eyes narrowed.

"So, we went after this ice kid, Haku, to save Tazuna and Asuma-sensei, and we found Asuma fighting Zabuza and Haku two-on-one. He was putting up a great fight but he was outnumbered, so Kiba took on Zabuza and I fought Haku. Only, Haku had so much more chakra than I did, 'cause I'd been training, and there was the ice dome, and all that… Gah, I'm making excuses…"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Anyway, Haku was beating me. He had me surrounded by a bunch of plates of ice, like mirrors, and he could throw senbon through all of them. He said some stupid stuff about me giving up and letting him kill Tazuna, I said no way, and then Hinata showed up. She used a Substitution Jutsu on me, put herself inside Haku's power, and got cut up by senbon too."

Hiashi's eyes narrowed further.

"So I went back in to help her, but… she got hit by a senbon in the heart." All eyes turned to Hinata, who was completely focused on Naruto's story, her eyes wide. "After that it starts getting hazy… I started screaming, and this voice asked me…"

**What would you do to save her? To erase this moment as though it had never happened to her?**

"And I said I'd do anything…" by now, both Naruto and Hinata were blushing furiously, "…and that little converstaion was all in my head, by the way…" he said in a small voice, then steeled himself and spoke louder. "Next thing I remember, I said 'Shinra Tensei,' but I don't know what the jutsu did 'cause I don't remember the next few seconds. After that, I looked down at Hinata," he shuddered, "and she wasn't breathing… so I said 'Rinne Tensei.'"

Everyone in the room sharply drew in a collective breath.

"Next thing I remember, Hinata was looking up at me, alive again, and she told me…" he pointed at his right eye. "She told me about these. Then Haku used another jutsu, and I used Shinra Tensei again, but I still don't remember what it actually did 'cause I passed out. Then, Hinata was carrying me… I guess she took a soldier pill for extra chakra? Anyway, she was carrying me, and said we won. Then I passed out again, and woke up back here in Konoha."

The room fell deathly silent, and Naruto looked around at the gathering of extremely powerful people as though he had done something terribly wrong and was expecting an equally terrible punishment.

Finally, the Hokage spoke. "Gentlemen," he addressed the adults, "You have all the answers Naruto and I can provide at this time. With the exception of Jiraiya, I must ask you all to leave."

No one argued, but Hiashi made his way to Naruto instead of the door, clamping a hand onto the Genin's shoulder. "Uzumaki… you and I will be having a very long talk about you and my daughter." Then he too left the room.

Only Naruto, Hinata, the Hokage and Jiraiya remained. Naruto and Hinata immediately leapt from their respective chairs and hugged each other. "Ahem," the Hokage cleared his throat, and the two released each other. "Naruto, Hinata, I'd like you to meet Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of the Sannin, and the only ninja in the known world who has firsthand experience with the Rinnegan and isn't a missing-nin."

Jiraiya flashed a proud grin. "With respect, Hokage-sama, that's '_Legendary_ Toad Sage of the _Legendary_ Sannin.'"

"Yes, well…" the Hokage replied with a sigh, "Naruto, I trust you've finally been told of your father's identity?"

"Y-Yeah, why?"

"This man, Jiraiya, trained him," the Hokage replied, gesturing to Jiraiya, whose grin broadened. "And Jiraiya was, in turn, trained by me. He's one of the most powerful shinobi in the world, and he's agreed to train you, Naruto."

Naruto blinked, looked to Jiraiya, then the Hokage, and then Hinata. She nodded to him subtly, and whispered with a smile, "Good luck."

Naruto shook his head, and faced Jiraiya. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama, but I can't. I've trained with Hinata-chan for two years, and that's gotten me to where I am today."

"What?!" Jiraiya roared in shock. "Kid, this isn't a deal you just pass up! It's the oppurtunity of a lifetime!"

_Someone thinks highly of himself,_ Naruto thought, but said nothing.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata began shakily, "J-Jiraiya-sama is right. You'd get so p-powerful with that kind of t-training…"

"Exactly." Naruto intertwined his hand with hers, and she blushed. "Jiraiya-sama, as much as I appreciate it, I can't accept your offer, _unless_ you train me and Hinata together." Everyone's eyes widened, and Naruto beamed. "I already said I'd do anything for her, didn't I? Believe it, Hinata-chan and I got this far without a sensei at all! So imagine the power we'd get if we trained under a Sannin. It wouldn't be fair at all, for Hinata to miss out while I get 'the oppurtunity of a lifetime.'"

Jiraiya nodded along with everything Naruto said, chuckling quietly, and when the blonde Genin finished, he let himself laugh louder. "A ladies' man, huh? This should be fun, and you're right anyway." Jiraiya turned his gaze on Hinata. "As a Hyuuga, you have incredible chakra control honed through the Byakugan and Gentle Fist, don't you?"

Hinata nodded after a brief hesitation. "Y-yes. My Gentle Fist isn't as good as some of the other Hyuuga, but I use n-ninjutsu too…" she trailed off.

"What Hinata-chan means is," Naruto continued, "She can do things no other Hyuuga has even tried to do in decades, and she's great at it." Hinata blushed, and tried to hide herself deeper inside her hoodie, but got nowhere.

Jiraiya nodded, smirking but not laughing at this point. "Hinata, what exactly did you do to earn such praise from Naruto? What makes him say that you're 'great at it?'"

"The W-Water Dragon Bullet," she replied reluctantly, and Jiraiya's eyebrows slid upward. "I f-found out in the Land of Waves, that I f-finally have enough chakra to use it, b-but not for too long."

"I see…" Jiraiya rubbed his custom forehead protector thoughtfully. "Well… since I'll be stuck here in Konoha anyway, training Naruto and such, I suppose I might as well train you too. There are a few jutsu you might be able to make particularly effective use of, if all this is true."

"T-thank you, Jiraiya-sama… I-I mean, Jiraiya-s-sensei!"

Jiraiya grinned. "So here's the deal. I'll stick around and train you two for the next couple of months, and as a bonus, I'll stick around to see you two compete in the Chuunin Exams, but after that, you two had better be _damned_ strong. In fact, I'll make you the deal right now…" Jiraiya stood, and held out his hand palm-up, forming a spinning sphere of chakra in his palm. "This is the Rasengan, an A-rank jutsu that requires no hand seals and no elemental affinity. Hinata, you're gonna learn it by the start of the Chuunin Exams." He turned to Naruto. "You, kid, you're gonna learn to use those eyes properly. You'll be unlocking and mastering each Path of the Rinnegan with my training, and you'll have three of 'em unlocked by the start of the Chuunin Exams. Those are my terms, meet them and I'll keep training you two."

"No problem!" Naruto announced loudly. "Me and Hinata-chan should have all that done in two weeks, tops! Believe it!"

"I don't," Jiraiya replied, with a slight hint of cold anger in his tone. "The tasks I've set for you are _not _easy. That's why doing them in two months is a fair challenge." Jiraiya made a fist, destroying the Rasengan in his hand. "Meet me in Training Ground Thirty-Five tomorrow morning. We'll start your training then."

The Toad Sage left the room, and Hinata immediately hugged Naruto again. "N-Naruto-k-kun, thank you s-so much!"

"Naruto, Hinata," the Hokage interrupted whatever Naruto had been about to say, "one last thing before you go: the Chuunin Exams, as Jiraiya mentioned, are in two months, and you will be competing in them. The level of power you two demonstrated in the Land of Waves… it's just laughable for you two to remain Genin at this point. Not to mention the quick thinking you showed in the Shiro Kyuuden. Now, be on your way." The Hokage sighed. "I have a lot more to deal with today."

Blushing at the mention of the Shiro Kyuuden, Naruto and Hinata quickly left the room.

X

"_Naruto. Open your eyes."_

_Naruto knew he was dreaming immediately, judging solely by the fact that he was staring up at a completely different ceiling from the one he'd gone to sleep under. He sat up, and realized he had been laying in shallow water. His back was soaked. "Huh? Who's there?"_

"_Over here, Naruto." He turned, and saw a smiling face looking back at him, a face framed by yellow hair as bright and spiky as his own. Next to this man, Minato Namikaze, stood a woman of the same age, with the long, scarlet hair characteristic of the Uzumaki Clan. Naruto's eyes widened. "Come here, son."_

_Naruto stood, and made his way to his parents' arms. _

_They embraced him, and he let himself cry. "It's okay, Naruto. It's us, we're here now, it's not a dream."His father ruffled Naruto's hair. "It's time we gave you some answers."_

_Naruto listened, still crying quietly. "Look over there, Naruto," his mother pointed, and he looked. At the far end of this giant red sewer they were in, there was a wall of golden bars that held back a giant, growling orange fox with nine massive tails lashing behind it. "That's the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."_

"_You're what's called a Jinchuuriki," his father continued. "One of nine humans who carry a Bijuu, a Tailed Beast, sealed within them. Because of this, there are many people who'd seek to use you, and the Bijuu within you, as a weapon."_

"_So why me? Why seal the Kyuubi… in your own son?" Naruto whispered, trembling._

"_Because you're strong enough to control him," Minato replied. "But, that's not all. I sealed my own and Kushina's… your mother's… chakra in here, a leftover of our souls, so we could give you these answers. We would've wanted to be there for you from the start, but you only triggered this function of the seal when you used the Kyuubi's chakra for a moment in the Land of Waves. And then, you awakened the Rinnegan, which cut that chakra off from you."_

"_I… don't understand that at all."_

"_It's simple. We wanted you to have the power to defend yourself, so until you unlocked your Rinnegan, the seal was set to leak the massive chakra of a Bijuu through to you. Once you had the Rinnegan, which we're so proud of you for, that leak was dangerous and unnecessary, so it was sealed."_

"_Mom… Dad… how, exactly, did I do that? How'd I get the Rinnegan?"_

_This time, Kushina spoke. "It's triggered by absolute devotion to another person, a willingness to do absolutely anything to protect them. Your mind rationalizes this, and turns it into a question: what would you do to save her?"_

_Naruto realized, "The correct answer… the one that got me the Rinnegan… was 'anything.'"_

"_That's right. And you awakened it to save Hinata Hyuuga." Minato beamed. "My little boy's all grown up, I see."_

_Naruto blushed, and Kushina smacked her husband on the back of the head. "…Moving on," Kushina announced, smirking as Minato rubbed the back of his head, "There's a scroll in the Uzumaki Clan trunk we left you, that should explain how to properly use the Rinnegan."_

"_The one I couldn't open," Naruto remembered. "It's about the Rinnegan?"_

_Kushina nodded. "And it's sealed so only someone with a Rinnegan will be able to open it. Once you've read through some of it, you should be able to remember using its jutsu, such as Shinra Tensei."_

"_But, there's something else very imprtant we have to talk to you about." Minato laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "Someone is going to try to gather all nine of the Bijuu, and recombine their powers into the Ten-Tails. Even a single Bijuu's power, channeled back into the Ten-Tails… you have to stop them, Naruto. Stop the Akatsuki. Gather the Jinchuuriki before they do, present a combined front and defeat them."_

"_Okay," Naruto replied. "I'll do that. I was already gonna become the Hokage, with that kind of influence the other Jinchuuriki should listen to me. But how will I recognize them?"_

"_That's just it, Naruto." Kushina smiled down at him. "Each Jinchuuriki bears a stigma, a mark of their Bijuu. Yours is the six whiskers of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The One-Tails, Shukaku, gives its Jinchuuriki black rings around the eyes. The Two-Tails, Matatabi, gives the most subtle stigma; two whisker marks like yours on each cheek, but they're golden, so they nearly blend with the skin. The Three-Tails, Isobu, marks its host with a pattern like a stitch on the left cheek. Son Gokuu the Four-Tails turns its Jinchuuriki's hair bright red and makes them grow tall. Kokuou, the Five-Tails, puts marks on the Jinchuuriki's cheeks like a grin extending from the ends of the mouth. Saiken the Six-Tails gives its host very pale skin and slitted eyes. Choumei the Seven-Tails turns the bearer's hair teal and their eyes orange. Lastly, Gyuuki the Eight-Tails puts a mark like a bull's horn tattoo on its Jinchuuriki's cheek. Now, some of these marks might be covered by their bearers, but if you search for them, they'll likely seek you out in return." Kushina intertwined her hand with Minato's, and finished, "we have to go now, Naruto. We don't have much chakra here inside you, and when it runs out we'll vanish forever. We need to conserve it for the next time."_

_Naruto nodded numbly, and his parents hugged him. "Goodbye for now, Naruto."_

X

"_So…" Naruto stood alone in front of the cage that had been placed in his subconscious, a few moments later. "You're the Kyuubi no Kitsune, huh? The creature that attacked Konoha the night I was born?"_

"_That's right," the creature within growled. "Why did you stay here, after your parents left to conserve what pathetic little chakra they had remaining?"_

"_I wanted to talk to you." Naruto stared up into the hate-filled eyes of the strongest of the Bijuu. "Is that really your name? Kyuubi no Kitsune?"_

"…_No," the fox replied, surprised by the question. _

"_My name's Naruto Uzumaki." The boy continued to stare up at him, without a trace of fear or even hatred. "I'm sure you already knew that, but it feels right to introduce myself anyway."_

"_I will not tell the likes of you my name," the Kyuubi growled. "Don't bother asking again."_

"_So, what should I call you, then?"_

"_Do not call me anything. I have no interest in speaking with you."_

"_Huh." Naruto looked around. "It's so dark and depressing in here… Is that because you like it this way? I can't imagine the inside of my mind would look like this if not for your influence."_

"_I don't care particularly for this scenery, since it's all I've seen for twelve years."_

"_Since you attacked the village and killed countless people, you mean. My parents, the parents of some of my classmates… some of the people I might have been classmates with are dead because of you."_

"_Then why do I see no hatred in your eyes?" The Kyuubi rumbled. "Why do you choose to speak with me?"_

"_Because I don't understand why you did it. Why kill them? They never did anything to you, did they?"_

"_I killed them because they were human. I hate you and all your kind."_

"_That's…"_

"_It's what? Horrible? Monstrous? Evil?"_

"_Sad. It's sad."_

"_Why don't you hate me?" The Kyuubi repeated, startled by this point._

"_Because I feel bad for you." Naruto smiled sadly up at the look of surprise on the demon's face. "The Sage of Six Paths created you, right? By splitting up the chakra of the Ten-Tails into nine entities? So, in a sense you were born because of a human. Is that why you hate us? Because you didn't ever want to exist? Or is it because the humans saw you as a monster, and hated you first? Were you innocent in the beginning?"_

_The Kyuubi remained silent, pondering this. Then, he rumbled, "Do you seek to tame me, child? To make my power your own?"_

"_No. It'd be nice to be that strong, but I don't want a shortcut to that power. I'm here," Naruto admitted, "because I know what it's like to feel hate. To be hated. I know how much it hurts, Kyuubi. If it hadn't been for Hinata, and Iruka-sensei, and some of the other kids who looked at me like a real person… I might've turned out like you did. Hating the whole world and thinking to myself, 'they deserve it. They started it; they treated me like this so it's their fault.' I might've really done it, but then someone was there for me, and she saved me from that darkness."_

_The Kyuubi listened patiently, until Naruto finished, and it replied, "I don't want your pity."_

"_No, I understand that too. Pity isn't as bad as hate, because you know they're trying to help, but it still makes you feel… low. Less than what you are, and what you want to be." Naruto smiled again. "You know, this really is just a projection of my mind. It's a thought, and I can change that thought really easily." He looked around, humming thoughtfully, and then snapped his fingers._

_The dim-lit crimson sewer was replaced by a vast, serene valley ringed with trees bearing sweet fruit. The floor beneath them turned to an endless sea of soft, warm grass. The ceiling became a sky with its own glorious yellow… no, orange sun, in a perpetual sunrise. The Kyuubi looked around, shocked, even as its cage expanded to give it room to wander. Then, its attention snapped back to the boy who had done all this in the blink of an eye. _

_Naruto was still smiling. "Do you like it? I guess a Bijuu might find it a bit too... tranquil? I could make it whatever you want, any suggestions?"_

"_Twelve years I stared out of a lapdog's cage at a stinking sewer… and now this," The Kyuubi mused. "I might yet give you my name after all."_

"_I think it's morning out in the real world," Naruto said with a glance to the cloudless sky. "I'll see you again tomorrow night."_

**Please Review!**


	6. Ninken, Part 1

**This is the first chapter of a double update. A review on both chapters would be very much appreciated.**

_Thanks to *Juan,* Ayrmed, devilzxknight96, Dragon Man 180, Sandaime Rikudo Sennin, *Forever-A-Guest,* schnookums, and Musical cake, for reviewing._

_*Juan:* Why, thank you._

_Ayrmed: Yes, I'm glad I finally got to write the Kyuubi, but out of all the characters he's the one I'm most afraid will be called OOC._

_devilzxknight86: Glad you liked it._

_Dragon Man 180: Glad you enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to developing Kurama's role in the story more. Naruto will receive Rasengan training as in canon, but Hinata's going to be using it more than him. I already have plans for her to develop the Water Release: Rasengan at some point in the future._

_Sandaime Rikudo Sennin: I'm trying not to overpower Naruto and Hinata, and I'll just say that althoigh they now know powerful jutsu, they're still Genin, and the Chuunin Exams opponents they'll face will still be a legitimate threat. Plus, Orochimaru's gonna be there, and he's pretty far above their level._

_*Forever-A-Guest:* This may or may not turn out to be a spoiler: The concept name for the second level is Kagayaku Byakugan (Japanese: Shining White Eye). It allows a Gentle Fist user to move chakra around freely, both their own and their opponent's. In other words, being poked at a chakra point by someone with Kakayaku Byakugan not only closes or destroys that chakra point, but also pushes the chakra in that part of the network completely outside the target's body. This can either blow that chakra out a person's back, or bounce it out of their body into Hinata, strengthening her. Keep in mind that's just the first, incomplete concept. Kiba's powerup is a new Fire Release jutsu that Akamaru will benefit from. I loved the mention of Hellsing, the TV show was good but the OVA series was fantastic. Hinata and Kiba won't quite be as strong as Naruto, he's the mighty hero after all, but it'll be close. They have the potential to beat an opponent he'd lose to, and vice versa. As for the Kyuubi problem, that gets mentioned at the end of this DOUBLE UPDATE! And remember not to review at 5:30 am again, hm._

_schnookums: Ah, so many questions, awesome! First, Akatsuki is an organisation consisting entirely of S-rank missing-nin including Itachi Uchiha and formerly Orochimaru, both from Konoha. I never liked the idea that somehow a Genin could get through the entire Academy curriculum without knowing who these guys are. Kiba is an equally important member of the team, and he'll be coing back in the next update with as much of a powerup from Asuma as Naruto and Hinata got from Jiraiya. Naruto will attempt to learn the Rasengan and very likely succeed. It was the Kazekage in the Third's office, as Orochimaru hasn't replaced him yet. Konoha and Suna are on good terms, and the Kazekage is in town to oversee the preparation for the Chuunin Exams. The Hokage has no intention of 'sharing' Naruto with Suna, but he has to keep his allies up to date on what power Konoha has. In the long run, Naruto is going to be S-rank, but he's got a long way to go._

_Musical cake: Glad you liked it. Here's what happens next:_

X

Naruto woke, and sat up as soon as his eyes were open. He yawned, stretched, and crawled out of bed. He quickly changed into a black shirt and neon orange pants, then stuffed his mother's Rinnegan scroll in his pocket. He made himself a bowl of ramen for breakfast and packed two more dry rectangular packages of instant ramen into the weapons pouch on the back of his pants. After that, he made his way to the front door of the manor and opened it.

Hinata stood on the other side, with her fist raised to knock. "Oh! H-Hi, Naruto-kun."

"Hinata-chan!" he greeted her with a hug and a quick, yet hesitant kiss, at which they both blushed. "I figured you'd be waiting at the training ground."

"N-no, I wouldn't go without you." She blushed again, and toyed with her index fingers. It seemed that little habit had resurfaced, despite her efforts to suppress it. "So, this is the Uzumaki manor?"

"Yeah… hey, maybe I could show you around after we train with Jiraiya-sensei?"

"I-I'd like that."

Along the way to Training Ground Thirty-Five, Naruto grinned as another topic of conversation came to him. "Hinata-chan… you remember those pranks I always used to pull?"

She giggled. "You spray-painted the Hokage Monument just a few weeks ago."

"…Not one of my better ideas," Naruto admitted. "But hey, I just thought of an idea for a good one. I was thinking maybe you and I could pull some massive prank against Team Seven."

"Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Rock Lee, Kakashi Hatake… you really think the two of us could…?"

"I haven't really thought of anything, but maybe you and I could brainstorm tonight, huh?"

"That… actually sounds really exciting…"

"Great! And maybe if we had our faces covered… they'd still suspect me, at least, so we'd have to use a jutsu no one thinks we know… They say the Rinnegan lets its user learn any jutsu really quickly, and use all the elements, so maybe if I used something like an Earth Release…" He paused. "Wait a minute, I just remembered… Hinata, when you use your Byakugan, does it look to you like _everything_ has chakra? Not just people?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "I've talked to the other Hyuuga, but they never saw it that way! They always say… it's just a side effect of my weak Byakugan, and it's not really chakra, but… I can tell…"

"So, they don't see it?"

"I don't think so. If they do, they're lying when they say they don't."

"Maybe your Byakugan is special, if you can see something no one else can. And one day, we'll figure out how to use this chakra we're seeing."

"I… never even considered that…" Hinata replied. "Do you really think so?" Naruto nodded immediately, and she flashed a smile back, then looked down thoughtfully. "When I woke up after the effects of the soldier pill, I couldn't find Asuma-sensei or Kiba-kun. I asked Hokage-sama, and he said they were training alone outside the village. He told me our team wouldn't be getting any missions until after the Chuunin Exams, and I haven't seen Asuma-sensei or Kiba-kun at all since then."

Naruto pondered this. "Huh… maybe that's a good thing. Kiba's gonna need to get strong too, and Asuma-sensei taught him a lot of Fire Release jutsu in Wave… I think Kiba's best suited to learning from Asuma-sensei, and with all that time being trained one-on-one… we'll all do great in the Chuunin Exams, I can feel it."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed suddenly and excitedly. "I just realized… if your Rinnegan can see chakra like my Byakugan… can you see my chakra network or any of the points on it?"

Naruto replied sadly, "I can see where you're going with that, Hinata-chan, but it's a bad idea."

She looked down sadly. "Teaching you the Gentle Fist… you're right, my father would have you killed for knowing those techniques. Can you see them, though?"

"I can see the network glowing though your whole body, but all that light just blends together. I can't make out the actual chakra pathways at all."

Shortly after that, they arrived at Training Ground Thirty-Five, where Jiraiya was waiting. It was a simple paved field dotted with wooden dummies and posts, some of which were badly damaged. "Good morning," the Toad Sage greeted with a cheerful grin. "Now, I'd like to be clear on something before we get started. I'm gonna push you two harder than you'd ever dream of pushing yourselves. But, I'll do it in such a way that you won't resent me for it, and in the long run, you'll become powerful shinobi with what you learn from me. You might even thank me. But before that, there's gonna be pain, exhaustion, and maybe fear for your lives. We'll start off slow; you _are_ still Genin after all, but after that…" Jiraiya trailed off. "You two think you can handle it?"

"No problem," said Naruto as Hinata nodded solemnly.

"Good." Jiraiya reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out a water balloon. "Hinata, break that with just your chakra control. Spin your chakra around in your palm until it makes the water rip the balloon open." He tossed it to her, and she caught it. "That's step one out of three to learning the Rasengan."

Naruto withdrew his mother's scroll from his pocket, and opened it to confirm it was the right one. "Jiraiya-sensei," he called, "should I be studying this to learn the Six Paths, or do you have something else planned?"

"Hm?" Jiraiya took the scroll and scanned through a bit of it. "Ah, this is… significantly better material than what I had in mind." He handed it back. "It's all there. What the Six Paths do, how to unlock each of them, all the kekkei genkai techniques the Rinnegan has to offer… and it's all in Kushina's tidy little handwriting, too. She must have studied the Rinnegan extensively in hopes of unlocking her own. She probably went so far as to condense all of the Uzumaki Clan's knowledge on-"

There was a loud, startling popping sound, and a splash of water hit the ground. Naruto and Jiraiya turned to look at Hinata, who had dropped the remains of the water balloon and was blushing furiously. "S-Sorry! I hadn't meant to interrupt!"

"Stage One of the Rasengan in maybe twenty seconds…" _I'd known the Hyuuga had incredible chakra control, but twenty seconds? That's just ridiculous! _Jiraiya snapped free of his thoughts when he noticed Naruto smirking at him. "What's so damn funny, kid?"

Naruto repeated what he had said in the Hokage's office with a grin: "Two weeks. Believe it."

Jiraiya blinked, then grinned back. "If you're serious, then that just means I get to put you through one and a half months of hell before the Chuunin Exams. So maybe you should take your time."

Naruto considered that for a moment. Before he could come up with something to fire back, Hinata asked, "What's Stage Two of the Rasengan?"

Jiraiya handed her an air-filled rubber ball. "Break that with your chakra. Don't just make it spring a leak, burst it to pieces."

"Hm…" Hinata concentrated, and the rubber ball shook slightly in her hand. "Is there anything I'm missing, any advice you could give me?"

"Only one thing. If you're pouring all your chakra into the ball and it won't break, try spinning it the other way. Actually, which way _are_ you spinning it?" he reached out and laid a hand on the top of her head.

"L-Left," she replied, and looked up at his wrist above her forehead. "What are you doing?"

"Checking which way your hair swirls. It goes to the right, so spin your chakra that way."

"O-Okay…" She focused her chakra again, and yelped in surprise as the balloon exploded in her hands, revealing a glowing blue-white ball of swirling chakra that promptly fell apart in her hand. The resulting gust of wind took Hinata's breath away and nearly knocked her down.

Jiraiya slapped a hand over his face to hide the look of deep thought that he wore. _She got through two stages of the Rasengan in as many minutes. Damn it, Naruto might actually be right. At this rate, Hinata might learn the Rasengan by the end of the day, and I'm scared to even look at what Naruto's done behind my back. _

As if on cue, Naruto's voice said with perfect clarity, "Here goes nothing. Shinra Tensei!" Jiraiya turned, just in time to see five dummies obliterated by a wave of invisible force. "Whoa!"

"I knew a boy named Nagato who had the Rinnegan, which makes him a distant cousin of yours," Jiraiya began, then continued after a brief pause, "He found that he could use Shinra Tensei once every five seconds, longer if he added more power to the jutsu. So don't rely on Shinra Tensei too heavily."

Naruto nodded. "So, I've unlocked one Path. Two if you count the one I used to bring Hinata back. If I can unlock a third over the next two months, do I pass your test?"

"The Outer Path is somewhat separate from the Six Paths. It's kinjutsu, and I suggest you never use it again. Unlock two more Paths in two months."

Naruto looked down at his scroll. "Oh… all right! Two more Paths, coming up! In just two weeks, Jiraiya-sensei, believe it!"

Jiraiya nodded numbly. "Hinata." He pulled out and inflated a balloon with air, then handed it to her. "Stage Three is the hardest of all. The first stage taught you to spin your chakra, the second taught you to do it with power, the third will require you to do both, and maintain it in a stable sphere shape. You'll do that by creating your first Rasengan inside this balloon without breaking it."

Hinata took the balloon and nodded. "That doesn't sound so bad…"

"For you, it might not be. The Rasengan was created over a period of three years by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, who taught it to me and his student Kakashi Hatake. Both of us took months learning it, and you've already reached the third stage. You're a Hyuuga who uses ninjutsu… it's like you were born to master this jutsu."

Hinata looked down at the balloon in her palm, and mused, "It was created by the Fourth Hokage? Naruto's father?"

Naruto turned to watch and listen to this conversation at the mention of his father.

"That's right. I'm planning to teach it to Naruto later, but he's not ready for it yet, and the Rinnegan is more important to his skill set. The original idea the Fourth had was for a powerful jutsu that required no hand seals, taking one's power over the shape of their chakra to the highest possible point. After that, he'd planned to add his own nature type to the Rasengan, but he'd died before he was able to complete the jutsu. Ironically enough, it was the Tailed Beast Ball that inspired the Rasengan."

Jiraiya paused, and looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "Look at the time!" he turned an apologetic look on Hinata, then Naruto, as he added, "Sorry, you two, but there's important research I have to work on. Stay here, continue what you're doing for a few hours, then go home. I'll meet you here again tomorrow."

"Hey, wait!" Naruto called, and reached for Jiraiya's shoulder as though it would help.

"Body Flicker Jutsu." Jiraiya vanished.

"Damn it…" Naruto muttered. "What the hell was he talking about when he said research?"

"I…" Hinata blushed, and admitted, "I did a bit of research on Jiraiya-sensei last night. It turns out he's an established author, and… his books are intended for… adult readers," she said in a small voice.

"Adult readers?" Naruto asked, puzzled. "I don't get it."

"Ah, um…" Hinata played with her fingers and blushed deeper. "Once I started looking up the phrase 'Icha Icha,' that's when people started giving me funny looks. I found out the series has a lot of… um… explicit content?" Naruto still looked confused, so she finished, in a very quiet voice, "J-Jiraiya-sensei writes p-porn."

Naruto blinked. "So… the research is…"

"He's probably spying on people."

The greatest prankster in Konoha flashed a mischievous smirk. "Remember how I said pranking Team Seven would be fun? Pranking Pervy Sage would be way better."

"P-Pervy Sage?" Hinata repeated in disbelief.

"The name fits, doesn't it?" Naruto grinned.

X

Several hours later, Naruto opened the front door to the Uzumaki Clan manor and held it for Hinata to step through. He'd spent the morning learning to properly use Shinra Tensei, and had managed to deactivate his Rinnegan with a sequence of hand seals. The whites of his eyes were white again, and the only visible change to his original eye color was the black circle set into each shining blue iris, a suppressed version of the Rinnegan's pattern.

Hinata looked around at the first room of the mansion, eyes wide. _It must have been built in the style of Uzushio, not Konoha. It doesn't look anything like the Hyuuga estate… _Her Byakugan showed her that the walls were tough clay brick underneath, coated in tiles of white marble streaked with grey. The floor was a pattern of ceramic tiles, deep blue with a mosaic pattern of teal swirls over the whole floor. _Uzushio got worse weather than Konoha… tsunamis, typhoons… I suppose a building like this would be able to withstand that…_

She followed him down one of the hallways leading from the entrance, and they emerged from the hall into a large room with a floor of concrete, with a sizable swimming pool set into it. "Last night, I read through a bit of the Uzumaki Clan's history. Apparently they tested the strength of their children's Wind Release, by having them whip up a whirlpool in a pool like this. I haven't tried it yet."

"So, like the Hyuuga test the strength of a child's Gentle Fist?"

Naruto nodded. "When a child could make a maelstrom that touched the bottom of the pool, they were considered an adult Uzumaki. It's also kind of like how the Uchiha Clan required their members to know the Fire Ball Jutsu." Naruto smiled. "I mean, this was still a swimming pool, but it was important. Uzumaki kids like me would grow up swimming in it, knowing one day they'd make a whirlpool in it…" he sighed. "Well, technically no Uzumaki kid actually used this pool to make a whirlpool, but the ones in Uzushio were identical to this."

"Hm… so, the Wind Release runs in your family, then? Like the Fire Release and the Uchiha?"

"I guess so. That would explain why the Uzumaki liked it so much, and why I have it in a ninja village full of Fire and Earth Release users. So maybe the Water Release is in the Hyuuga blood."

"Maybe." Hinata stared into the crystal-clear water of the pool. "Naruto-kun? I still have your haori."

Naruto nodded. "Right… I left it with you in the Land of Waves…" he beamed. "You used the Water Dragon Bullet back there, Hinata-chan! It was awesome; you even kept it going for a while!"

He looked down at her hands, which were suddenly forming seals. "I-I'm going to try it again, with the water in the pool," she announced shakily, and added, "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet."

The head of an angry dragon rose out of the pool, followed by its long, snaking body which writhed furiously. The creature growled at her refusal to attack something with it, then slithered back into the pool with only a small splash. Hinata smiled proudly. "I really did it! A year ago that jutsu almost killed me…" she beamed, and turned to Naruto. "So, what did you have in mind for a prank on Jiraiya-sensei… I mean, Pervy Sage?" Naruto's eyes widened. "I-I know, I can't believe I just said that either…"

"No, that's not what I was thinking. I was thinking, 'that's gotta be my new favorite sentence.'" Naruto grinned. "I thought maybe we'd blow Pervy Sage's cover when he's spying on somebody, and make sure they get a good look at his face. Then, whoever he's spying on is probably gonna spread the word, and then everyone's gonna be ready for him, next time he tries it. And, as a bonus, that means he'll be stuck training us more, instead of doing his 'research.'"

As they returned down the hallway they had arrived through, Hinata mused, "We'd definitely have to cover our faces. I could cover my eyes and use my Byakugan to see through, and you could keep your Rinnegan suppressed. He doesn't know you can do that."

Naruto nodded. "If we used any jutsu, he'd probably recognize our chakra… but then, he'll suspect me anyway. I've been a prankster my whole life, and you can bet Hokage-sama gave him a warning about me right away. So, that's good. Jiraiya suspecting me will deflect his attention away from you… I'll use Shinra Tensei and throw him into whatever group he's spying on. He'll drag me away, then you show up with even your eyes covered, and tell the girls he's ogling that they were rescued by some all-powerful group of S-rank ninjas, and we'll come up with a good name for ourselves…"

"I don't understand. What's the point of all that?"

"Um… well… you remember Shikamaru Nara from the Academy? He once beat the tar out of me at shogi. He's a genius, believe it. Anyway, he told me something like, 'in any good strategy, the first attack is always a feint.' So the first attack is ruining Pervy Sage's cover. Even if he covers that up, the people he's spying on… say, for instance, they're a bunch of cute girls in a bathhouse, they'll be talking about being saved by a shinobi group not even the Hokage knows about. That's the second attack."

"We're gonna make Pervy Sage, heck, most of Konoha, think there's a team of S-rank ninjas stalking the streets at night, and for added fun we'll say I'm one of their leaders. Then, when the time is right, we'll reveal it was just us, but we'll do it so it's a little… um… ambiguous, and then people won't be sure what to believe, but both stories are good for us." He paused for a moment, letting his plan sink in.

"And then," He added with a grin, "there's your alter ego in the group, a kunoichi so skilled that she could stalk and expose a peeping Sannin without using her chakra or even her eyes. So, the group has you, or that version of you, as well as their only identified member, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox A-K-A me, as two members of an organization of shinobi, possibly missing-nin, which claims to be vast, powerful, and hidden throughout Konoha right under the nose of the Hokage."

"N-Naruto-kun… how long have you been thinking about this?" Hinata asked, wide-eyed.

"Since this morning, when we found out that Pervy Sage was actually a pervy sage." Naruto grinned. "Not too bad, huh?"

Hinata nodded. "So, a name for a team of S-rank missing-nin… the only existing group like that which comes to my mind, is Akatsuki."

"But we don't want to pattern ourselves after them; otherwise people might think the two are connected. Even if we go with the theme opposite to 'Daybreak' or 'Red Dawn,' it shows we're trying to match ourselves to them somehow. So, we should go with a name that has no connection to 'Akatsuki...' ideally, something without the name of a color in it, and hopefully, no connection to a time of day like morning or dusk… Maybe an animal theme, or a weapon we'll all wield?"

Hinata nodded thoughtfully. "The ANBU already have an animal theme, with their masks. Maybe we should all carry a certain kind of sword?"

"We can use both. Ninken. Depending on how it's written, that could be 'Ninja Swords' or 'Ninja Hounds.' We won't wear dog masks, though, that's too much like the ANBU… I've got it! We'll wear traditional black ninja outfits, but we'll add fur to parts of the costume, and carry swords on our backs." Naruto grinned. "Follow me, Hinata!" he shouted gleefully, and led her down a new hallway at a run.

"N-Naruto-kun, where are we going?!" she called back, following.

"The Uzumaki Clan armory," Naruto replied, as they came to a stop in a room lined with shelves. The shelves, in turn, were lined with weapons, and the most common type was a slightly curved, thin one-handed sword in a leather scabbard. The hilts of these weapons were often glistening brass, but a few were painted black. All were meant for a single-handed grip, and the handguards were bars of metal that extended past the wielder's knuckles to connect the base of the blade to the pommel. Naruto handed one to Hinata, in a soft black leather scabbard.

"It's called a cutlass, apparently. They were used by pirates off the coast of the Land of Whirling Tides, who sailed from far away in ships a lot bigger than the ones we have here in the Elemental Countries. The Hidden Village of Uzushio decided they'd make great ninja weapons, and the Uzumaki in particular made them a symbol of our clan, but they changed the design a little. These are longer than a pirate's cutlass would be; the blade's maybe thirty inches." Naruto reached for a cutlass with a bronze hilt that was close to a dull orange. "I'm not much good at melee combat, but if the Wind Blade Jutsu can turn a kunai into a scimitar this size, imagine what I'd have if I used the same jutsu on a cutlass. I'd be swinging around a sword like Zabuza's, with one hand, easily. That's a pretty good deterrent for any close-range opponents."

"Have you always been putting this much work into a prank?" Hinata asked, unsheathing the blade, which was still wet with oil and razor-sharp.

"Not really, but this is a big one and I want it to work. Plus, it's the first time I've ever worked with you on a prank, so that's another reason I want to put a lot of work into it. And think about it! If we pull this off, everyone's going to be talking about Ninken. We'll be able to reuse the costumes, to keep up the illusion of a group of missing-nin helping Konoha, and maybe the whole world might end up believing we actually exist! And then the other Hidden Villages would be afraid to mess with Konoha because they'd be messing with Ninken too! And it's even better if we publicly claim Ninken doesn't exist, 'cause then it's like we're trying to stay hidden!"

"T-That's insane," Hinata replied hesitantly, blushing at her own words. "There are only two of us… This is the kind of thing that kicks off the plot of a shounen manga."

"You read shounen manga?" Naruto asked, wide-eyed.

"No, but you've told me about a few, remember?"

"Ah… you're right, though. There's no way we could keep up the charade with two people. Maybe we could recruit more people after the Chuunin Exams, then make some grand return."

"So, in order to prank Jiraiya-sensei, you're going to actually put together a team of ninjas with the intent of protecting Konoha and rivaling Akatsuki?" Hinata couldn't help herself; she let out a giggle, and reddened further. "S-Sorry!" she said through more giggling and blushing.

"Hinata… I think I should just tell you the truth… Akatsuki. I know what they're after." Naruto looked down at his feet. "They want the Bijuu to reassemble into the Ten-Tails so they can take over the world with its power. The Jinchuuriki containing them, which includes me… they'll die when their Tailed Beasts are torn out of them."

Hinata's eyes widened. "What do you mean? How could you possibly know that?"

"I met my parents last night. My dad… he sealed my parents' remaining chakra into me along with the Kyuubi. They told me everything."

"And that's why your idea is growing so fast," she realized. "You know you'll have to fight Akatsuki anyway." She slid the sword back into its scabbard, and announced, "Let's do it. I'm not sure if anyone will believe it, but a scheme like this… It could be the most exciting thing we ever do as Genin." Blushing, she stole a quick kiss. "S-Starting today, we're N-Ninken."

X

Jiraiya grinned, as he inspected the perfect orb of swirling chakra in Hinata's right palm. It had been two days since the formation of Ninken, and the plan for their debut was coming together nicely. "Excellent work, Hinata. You've actually learned the Rasengan in three days. That has to be the most incredible thing I've ever seen done by a shinobi below Jounin rank, and I doubt there's a shinobi in the world other than the five Kage that could learn the Rasengan this quickly. Now, use it on that dummy over there." Jiraiya pointed to the wooden mannequin, with a bullseye for shurikenjutsu on its chest.

Hinata nodded, and glanced down at her Rasengan, then back to the target. She pulled back her hand, and Jiraiya blinked in surprise. "What are you-?"

She threw her Rasengan, which struck the target's chest and obliterated the entire dummy, melting a small crater into the pavement in the process. Jiraiya stared. "W-was that wrong?" Hinata asked, terrified at the silence that hung in the air.

"I… can't believe it…"

"What's wrong?" she asked with a hint of panic in her tone.

"You… threw it. You _threw it_!"

"I-I'm s-sorry! I thought I was s-supposed to…"

Jiraiya turned, shocking her with his grin. "The Rasengan… was based on the Tailed Beast Ball… a projectile attack! It gets more powerful when you throw it! I should've known!" Jiraiya formed his own sphere of chakra and threw it at another dummy, bellowing "Rasengan!" as it struck, to explode and blow a significantly larger hole in the ground than Hinata's Rasengan did. "I can't believe it… I really shouldn't have underestimated you two. Two weeks…"

"Naruto-kun never goes back on his word," Hinata proclaimed with determination and subtle admiration in her voice. "He told me this morning that he intended to unlock the Preta Path by absorbing one of his own ninjutsu, and the Human Path by learning a jutsu from all four nature types other than Wind Release. He can do that in two weeks, I just know it."

"Maybe so… I never said he had to _master_ any Path over the two months…" Jiraiya grinned again. "I'm damned glad he convinced me to train you, Hinata-chan."

She beamed and blushed at the praise and use of an honorific. "T-Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei. I'll c-continue to make you p-proud."

Jiraiya nodded, and wandered off while muttering something about his research. Hinata emulated Naruto's mischievous smile as best she could, aiming it at the back of Jiraiya's spiky white mane. _Jiraiya-sensei… Pervy Sage… you really have no idea what's coming. I almost feel bad about this. _

When Naruto returned a few minutes later, he noticed Jiraiya's absence, and handed Hinata a green scroll. "I finished the storage seals; it's really basic fuinjutsu, but I've never done it before, so it's kind of confusing me at this point. Your outfit and sword are in there, and it takes maybe two seconds to open the scroll and take it out of the seal. Plus, these things are reusable, so you can put the outfit back in, just by pushing it into the paper with a burst of chakra." He pulled an identical scroll out of his weapons pouch, and showed it to her with a grin.

X

Four shinobi and a very lifelike puppet entered Konoha that night, wearing the forehead protectors of Suna, the Village Hidden in the Sands.

Gaara no Sabaku was the first to pass through the gates of the village, with his arms folded over his chest and a subdued scowl on his face. Inside, however, he was grinning madly. _Can you feel it, Mother? Many powerful shinobi… we'll taste all of their blood, Mother! _

_Yes, my child. Kill them all, when the time is right,_ Shukaku replied. _Kill them all…_

Gaara looked forward, and he let himself smirk. "I look forward to proving… the value of my existence," he growled quietly.

**Please Review!**


	7. Ninken, Part 2

**This is the second chapter of a double update, please read the previous chapter first. A review on both chapters would be very much appreciated. **

Naruto, once again wearing his father's haori, stared back at the dull black eyes of the Genin standing between him and Ichiraku Ramen, thoroughly puzzled. "I'm sorry… could you maybe run that by me again?"

"No problem at all!" the green-clad boy replied with unnatural enthusiasm. "My name is Rock Lee! I am a Genin of Konoha's Team Seven, the only Genin in Konoha who has no ninjutsu or genjutsu! As such, I hope to become a great ninja with only my talent for taijutsu, and I would like to test that talent against you, Naruto Uzumaki, a devoted user of ninjutsu! Would you honor me with a friendly sparring match?"

Naruto blinked again. "…Uh… I guess so? But, I'd kinda like to have lunch first…" he scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, I see! I'm obstructing your way to this restaurant! Please carry on, and forgive my rudeness!" Lee stepped aside, apparently not noticing the looks of incomprehension Teuchi and Ayame were giving him. Naruto stepped into the ramen stand, and as usual, a bowl of his favorite miso ramen was placed in front of him. "So, Uzumaki-san!" Lee sat down next to him. "I have heard that something unusual happened between you and Hinata Hyuuga during your mission to the Land of Waves." He glanced to Teuchi. "Oh, I forget myself, this is an eatery! I will have whatever he is having." He turned back to Naruto. "Uzumaki-san, are you dating Hinata Hyuuga?"

Naruto choked on his ramen, and coughed out, "_What?_"

"Are you dating Hinata Hyuuga?" Lee repeated, with exactly the same calm tone.

"Why would you even ask me something like that?"

"The other Genin are all wondering whether you are dating Hyuuga-hime. I decided I should ask you before we spar."

"Okay… I'm dating her. But don't tell anyone about that, we don't want any gossip getting back to Hiashi."

"I understand completely! I promise, I will not tell a soul!" Lee flashed a thumbs-up and a grin. Naruto rapidly finished his bowl of ramen, and Lee copied him by downing his bowl almost as quickly. "So, Uzumaki-san, are you ready to spar now?"

"Yeah… let's take it outside, and try not to break anything, alright?"

Lee nodded. "You have my word."

Naruto led him outside into the street, and Lee produced a Konoha forehead protector which he donned formally. From where he had pulled it, Naruto didn't bother guessing. "All right, let's get started… mmf!" he exclaimed as Lee's fist collided with his cheek, sending him flying. He sat up, dazed, and saw Lee with one opened hand extended palm-up, and the other tucked behind his back.

"I apologize, Uzumaki-san! I had not intended to hit you with a surprise attack; I had simply assumed you were ready!"

"I did too." Naruto stood. _This isn't gonna be easy. _"All right!" he called, and started forming hand seals. "My ninjutsu versus your taijutsu, believe it! Wind Release: Wind Scar!"

A wave of wind blades ripped forward, carving shallow lines into the dirt as they approached Lee. In a blur, the green Genin easily dodged, and rapidly closed in on Naruto. "Erasing Wind!" the boy was lifted off his feet and dropped back to earth twenty feet away, but he landed on his feet easily and attempted to move in again. Naruto retreated, and formed more hand seals. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

"Ah! I see the stories about your skill were not exaggerated!" Lee shouted happily as he dodged the attack. "An upper B-rank ninjutsu that has not tired you significantly! This will be an exciting match, Uzumaki-san!" By this point, the boy was simply standing there to finish his sentence, but when he finished, he lunged at Naruto, who pulled a shuriken from his weapons pouch and threw it at Lee.

"Shuriken Shadow Clones!"

The shuriken split apart in a dark blur, turning into two-hundred and eleven shuriken. Lee dodged most, but took two shallow cuts to his left forearm, and winced. "It is nothing! If I cannot defeat you through the pain of a few wounds, I will do one thousand push-ups tonight, plus one hundred sit-ups for each wound!"

_He's crazy! _Naruto realized, and resolved not to cut Lee again. "Wait a minute… I remember you! You're the kid on Team Seven with Sasuke and Sakura! What the hell happened to you?"

"I have been training, and devoting my time entirely to taijutsu! I will become a great ninja with only these fists, Uzumaki-san!"

_He isn't kidding. In my time at the Academy, there was only one guy worse than me at the Clone Jutsu who graduated. This is him. Even before Hinata and I started training, at least I could create something. This guy? Not even a cloud of smoke. _Naruto flashed a grin back at Lee. "You're pretty good already!" Naruto praised, and added, "Okay. I can see you're taking this seriously… So I'm gonna try a few new jutsu I've never used before! You'll be the first to ever see me use 'em, believe it!"

Lee nodded, and resumed his initial stance, then faltered. "Wait, Uzumaki-san! It would be disrespectful for me to hold back while you go all out! Please give me a moment!"

"Sure. You get ready, and I'll do the same." Naruto pulled a green scroll out of his weapons pouch. "Do me a favor though; don't tell anyone you saw me doing this. At least not for a few days."

"As before, Uzumaki-san, you have my word." Lee beamed and flipped another thumbs-up. "I swear on my youth!"

"Huh?" Naruto replied quietly enough that Lee didn't hear. _What the hell does that mean? _As Lee unclasped a set of training weights from his calves, Naruto pulled the Uzumaki Clan cutlass out of the storage seal, unsheathing it. "Wind Release: Wind Blade Jutsu." He breathed out a coating of wind chakra onto the weapon, and the ethereal blades grew to become a seven-foot sword curved like a scimitar, wrapped around the existing weapon. A bit of concentration dulled the blades of wind so they would strike Lee but not wound him. _I've never been much good at close range, but this should help once Lee gets past my ninjutsu. _He stabbed the weapon into the ground so he could form more hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Wall Jutsu!"

Lee and Naruto lost sight of each other as a slice of earth two feet thick and twenty feet long rose ten feet into the air. It was promptly shattered by a fist wrapped in bandages, and Naruto stepped back, now startled. _At this rate, I might end up using my Rinnegan… but that's not fair at all. Lee signed up to fight the ninjutsu I graduated with, not the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. Even if he wins, that isn't fair. _Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when Lee arrived in a green blur and struck him in the gut. He coughed as he was thrown backward, spitting out a bit of blood, and landed facedown in the middle of the dirt road. Naruto got up, and was able to block the second strike with his new Wind Blade, but Lee kept coming in a blur.

His eyes squeezed shut as a blow struck his ribs, and when they opened, the Rinnegan had activated. Lee's eyes widened, but he didn't pull a single punch. The next strike, aimed for Naruto's solar plexus, was blocked by a plate of black metal that materialized merely an inch above the skin. Lee pulled back, and clutched his knuckles, which dripped a bit of blood.

"I'm sorry!" Naruto frantically called, and suppressed his Rinnegan. "I never meant to-"

"It is all right, Uzumaki-san! It simply means I will need to do…" Lee looked down at his bandaged fist. "Counting these, five hundred sit-ups, if I do not defeat you!" He beamed, as though excited about both possibilities, and the sun glinted on his teeth.

"No," Naruto said sadly. "I used the Rinnegan, and that was cheating. The deal was just my ninjutsu against your taijutsu, and I didn't mean to use my eyes, but it happened, and it's cheating. You win."

"Uzumaki-san?" Lee's eyes were wide. "You… forfeit? I actually won?"

"Yeah. It wasn't fair for me to use the Rinnegan, and besides, I need time to figure out what exactly I just did with it."

Lee beamed, looking down at his hands. _I will become a great ninja after all! Gai-sensei, I will make you proud! _"Naruto-san, you have honor that could only be shown by one who enjoys the springtime of youth! Please be my friend!"

"Um… Okay? Yeah, sure!" Naruto flipped a thumbs-up in imitation of Lee. "Just call me Naruto. Only Hinata calls me Naruto-kun, and Naruto-san is way too formal."

"Of course! You may call me Rock!" Lee gave his own thumbs-up and a disturbingly shiny grin.

"Yeah… see you around, Rock," Naruto smiled back, and sheathed his cutlass, dispelling the Wind Blade around it. He waved a hand to repair the damage done to the road by his Earth Wall.

"I will see you at the Chuunin Exams, Naruto!" Lee picked up his training weights, and added, "May the fires of our youth carry us far into the upper ranks of the shinobi!" Then he vanished in a blur of green.

Naruto resolved to ask Lee what exactly he was talking about, then glanced down at the plate of metal he'd created from nothing to block Lee's last attack. _Did I just… unlock the Asura Path of the Rinnegan? _He picked up the plate, which dissolved into dust that faded into invisible chakra. _So, I've got the Deva Path for gravity manipulation, the Human Path for affinities to all five elements, and the Asura Path to make weapons out of thin air! And it's only been twelve days! _"Yeah!" Naruto shouted, and threw a fist into the air. "I really did it! Three Paths in two weeks, _believe it_!"

X

Jiraiya couldn't believe it.

Hinata stood before him, beaming proudly with a Rasengan in each hand, while Naruto was grinning at his own success with the Rinnegan, which he had demonstrated moments ago. "I… I can see now that I underestimated you two, _badly_. From now on, I'll train you at your proper level. Starting two days from now, we'll be doing nonstop survival training for the next three weeks, so bring food." Naruto's grin faltered, and Hinata's double Rasengan vanished. Jiraiya laughed at how quickly their pride had faded. "Hey, I did tell you it was gonna get harder. We need to test the limits of your _endurance_ now. You've shown that you have the necessary power to defeat fearsome opponents, like the ones you'll face in the Chuunin Exams, but now we'll see how long you can keep up a healthy offense and defense, as well as using stealth and escape tactics, over a prolonged period like an actual mission."

He looked up at the sky, stained crimson by the still-rising sun. "I'll give you two the rest of today and all of tomorrow to get ready, pack your equipment. I recommend using generic storage fuinjutsu to save a lot of space." He turned away with a grin. "Now, back to my research… Body Flicker Jutsu."

"He was only here for ten minutes," Naruto grumbled at the spot where Jiraiya had stood. "I'm glad he won't be getting a chance to try this again." He deactivated his Rinnegan, and added, "Damn Pervy Sage."

"Wait…" Hinata activated her Byakugan. "We should follow him, and find out where he hides the most, before our move tonight. I can track his chakra with my Byakugan."

Naruto grinned again, and replied, "I like the way you think, Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed faintly, both at Naruto's words and where she had found Jiraiya. "Right now, Jiraiya-sensei's hiding in a bush, watching… five girls in swimsuits, splashing each other in a lake. He has binoculars, so I guess he can do this from longer ranges. Right now, he's maybe twenty feet from them."

"Binoculars… for longer ranges? Or maybe he has them so he can…" Naruto started blushing too. "Get a good look at… specific parts of these girls?"

"Um…" Hinata looked down, blushing deeper as her Byakugan shut down. "I feel d-dirty just t-talking about all of this… b-but… you s-seem to know a l-lot about this, N-Naruto-kun… Have you ever… um…?" She started playing with her fingers.

"No! No, I don't do that!" By now they were both bright red. "I'm twelve!" he added desperately.

"O-Okay…" Hinata reactivated her Byakugan, with her cheeks still red. "Jiraiya-sensei… is giggling, and taking notes… okay, the girls stopped splashing each other. He just used the Body Flicker." Hinata paused, and tracked the Toad Sage's chakra again. "Now he's at a bathhouse… he used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into a woman with white hair. He's walking right in!"

"If we tried to expose him there," Naruto said seriously, "He'd change back and fight us. We're strong, but we can't fight a Sannin yet. We'd have to make our move when he's outdoors; otherwise he'd see two unfamiliar ninjas coming through an entrance and he'd attack first."

After a few more minutes of watching Jiraiya at a long range, Hinata shut down her Byakugan. "My eyes are starting to hurt," she admitted. "From what I saw, it seems attacking at night is a bad idea. The best place for us to ambush him is at that lake, and who's going to swim there at night?"

"So, tomorrow, he won't be expecting to see us at all… and we'll follow him to the lake, and blow his cover!" Naruto grinned. "That's the hardest part of the plan; after that it should all be easy as pie, believe it!"

"Naruto-kun… about that… why claim to be the leader of an S-rank team of missing-nin, if you're just planning to…" she trailed off, unwilling to speak the details of their plan out loud in a public training ground.

"It's still a prank on Pervy Sage, after all," Naruto replied, grinning. "Trust me, at the end of the day Jiraiya-sensei's probably never gonna try this again, or at least not here in Konoha. That'll get us more time to train with him, and people can have their privacy back!" He paused. "Besides, we have to have one identified member, so people like Hokage-sama can give us assignments."

"But you said we were going to…" she trailed off again.

"…Yeah, but not everyone's going to believe it," Naruto clarified.

"So you want us to accept missions while claiming to be S-rank shinobi? Isn't that… dangerous?"

"No, there's no way we could handle S-rank missions yet. But that's not the point. We're supposed to be just helping to protect Konoha, and that's something we could do. That's the real point. People will feel safer if they think Konoha has their own Akatsuki-level team of ninjas protecting them."

"Meanwhile, the people who believe the other story… will tell their friends about the other part. A Sannin got caught peeping on girls, exposed by one Genin with an accomplice who was probably also a Genin." Hinata's eyes widened. "I know we talked about this before, but… it still amazes me."

"It's gotta be the biggest, most complex prank I've ever pulled, and if we make it work, it'll actually help Konoha." Naruto said excitedly.

X

"They're weaklings. All of them." Gaara scowled. "Even their civilians are frailer than the weakest peasants we encountered on our way here. Their Genin won't be much better."

"Gaara," Kankurou began hesitantly, "We're not here to win the Chuunin Exams, remember? In the end, we'll be fighting Jounin and ANBU, just be patient."

Gaara's arms were folded over his chest, and he kept walking, but he looked back over his shoulder at Kankurou.

Kankurou shuddered. Gaara was only looking into the eyes of a disguised puppet, but the pure killing intent of his fellow Sand Sibling was horrifying. Through his puppet's eyes, Kankurou saw the teal glare Gaara was piercing him with. "I won't wait that long. I must continue to prove my existence, and if I must stalk a Chuunin or Jounin to do that before the attack begins, I will do it. Or else, my existence will falter and fail. I cannot have that."

Kankurou gulped, and his puppet nodded. "If you have to do that… Please, Gaara, keep it quiet."

"I will make an effort," Gaara replied, and faced ahead once more. "It doesn't matter to me whether these people know of my existence, so I'll at least make an effort."

Kankurou breathed out, shaking with relief. _Those eyes… every time he even looks at me, I can feel the killing intent of that monster… I know he wouldn't hesitate to kill me if it helped him in any way. _

The Jinchuuriki of the One-Tails led his brother and sister aimlessly throughout Konoha, and as he did, his growl of angry disappointment became louder and more obvious. "Weaklings," he snarled again. It was sheer luck that one particular Genin heard this voice as he passed, and turned to look at the speaker.

"Shukaku…" Naruto breathed, and Hinata glanced at him with concern. "That's the Jinchuuriki of Shukaku."_ I recognize those rings around his eyes... the mark of the One-Tailed Tanuki._

Gaara turned, interested by the name of his sealed demon. The two demon carriers made their way to each other, and Gaara confirmed, "Yes. Within me is sealed the One-Tailed Beast, Shukaku no Sabaku. Why does it matter to you? And how did you know?"

"I…" Naruto glanced around. "I'd rather we talk about this somewhere private. Could the five of us maybe visit a ramen place? I'll pay."

"No," Gaara responded with a quiet growl. "Tell me here, and right now."

"I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails, the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Naruto admitted. "I'm supposed to find all eight other Jinchuuriki so we can protect ourselves, from Akatsuki…" he lowered his voice. "Akatsuki exists to hunt us down and reassemble the Bijuu into the Ten-Tails."

"It's of no concern to me." Gaara stepped past Naruto.

"That's wrong." Gaara turned, piercing Naruto with the same look of fury he'd used on Kankurou. Naruto flinched, but continued, "If the Akatsuki find you, they'll rip the One-Tails right out of you, killing you in the process, and with the power they take from your corpse they'll take over the world."

"I can protect myself," Gaara replied, but the other Genin had his attention now. "As for the other Jinchuuriki, I hold no love for them. Even the entire rest of the world means nothing to me. I care for only myself, I love only myself, and I live only for myself."

Naruto gritted his teeth, and would've loved to explode on Gaara, but he understood the delicacy of the situation. He replied quietly, "What do I have to do, to make you listen?"

"There's nothing you can do. I am here only to kill, and if we meet in the Chuunin Exams, I will kill you. I don't care about your intentions or Akatsuki's. If anyone faces me I will kill them. Missing-nin, Genin, Jinchuuriki… All of you. You're simply a means for me to prove the value of my existence; you exist solely to die, ideally by my own hand."

"Then that's what I'll do." Gaara gave him a look of indifference mixed with confusion, until Naruto added, "I'll beat you in the Chuunin Exams, then maybe you'll listen to me."

Gaara simply stared back at him, wearing an absolutely blank expression. "That's impossible," he finally declared. "Even if you were to do it, it wouldn't change me. I would still care only for myself and my continued existence, and I would kill you for your trouble." He started walking away again.

"Wait! What's your name?" Naruto called.

Gaara paused, and glanced back over his shoulder. "…Gaara. Gaara no Sabaku."

"Got it. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. See you at the Chuunin Exams, we can settle this there."

Gaara left, and his brother and sister followed. "Kankurou, Temari," he began after they had walked a considerable distance, "That one with the blond hair is strong. You will not raise a weapon against him, he's _mine_." Gaara cracked a psychotic grin. "He's the one who will truly _reinforce _the value of my existence with his death." _His eyes… they were strange, Mother. Not the eyes we're looking for, but strange and… interesting._

_How so, child? _Shukaku replied, the voice resonating powerfully in Gaara's mind.

_He doesn't seek to prove the value of his existence through killing someone. It's as though he believes his existence has already been proven. He has no doubt in his eyes, but no intent to kill either. He's not like me, but his existence… felt very real. He isn't like the weaklings around us, which is why killing him will have so much importance. I must learn to do what he's done with his existence, to make himself so strong._

X

Historically, shinobi wore black suits of soft, quiet cloth for stealth on missions, and such a uniform had once been everyday apparel for shinobi. In recent decades, shinobi such as the Genin of Konoha had become accustomed to wearing civilian clothing like hoodies, often lightly colored ones. The advantages of a traditional ninja uniform were not to be underestimated, however, and that was why the Third Hokage, for instance, still wore such a costume under his white-and-red robes.

Naruto had managed to produce two such outfits, and had added panels of dark grey fur fitted snugly over the shoulders, creating a uniform for Ninken. Over their right shoulders, the hilts of Naruto's and Hinata's cutlasses were ready to be drawn, and Naruto had tied a sash of dark orange cloth around his waist to complete his costume. His eyes were exposed through a slit in the black cloth that covered the rest of his face, whereas Hinata's mask had been sewn shut over her distinct, pearly lavender-white eyes. They'd also bought new weapons pouches and holsters in black.

After spending his childhood evading angry civilians and even shinobi while dressed in neon orange, Naruto was rather confident he'd be completely invisible in these black robes, and he said as much: "Pervy Sage is never gonna see us coming, believe it." He grinned under his mask. Although he'd originally planned to use this costume to attack at night, hiding in the treetops with an outfit this comparatively subtle would be almost as effective.

Hinata nodded; her Byakugan was already active to see through the mask that covered her easily identified eyes. Naruto's, although distinctive with the black rings in his blue irises, would be less of a giveaway until he activated his Rinnegan, and since he was planning to be identified anyway, it was all for the best.

Naruto kept all of this in mind as he led Hinata through the treetops, still grinning gleefully until he thought of Gaara. _Even a single Bijuu's power, channeled back into the Ten-Tails… you have to stop them, Naruto. _His father's words echoed in his mind. _I can't let Gaara keep on fighting alone; it'd mean a potential apocalypse when Akatsuki gathers to take him in. But... how am I supposed to get through to a guy like this? _

He shook off the thoughts of the future, and concentrated on his present mission to bring down Jiraiya. The white-haired Sannin was currently giggling like an idiot, with his binoculars trained on the subtly bouncing chest of a woman who was laughing as her friend splashed her, just like yesterday. Naruto could have probably just walked right up to Jiraiya and shoved a Shinra Tensei into the back of his head, but he wasn't going to take any chances. He made a gesture with his hand, and pointed across the small lake.

Hinata, who could see in all directions with her Byakugan, caught the message and leapt silently across the lake. One of the bikini-clad women happened to glance up and see Hinata sailing through the air, but she thought nothing of a ninja _leaving_ Konoha, and Jiraiya didn't notice a thing. Said civilian witness resumed splashing her friends, giggling.

Hinata landed in a tree across the lake, watching for Naruto's signal to make her presence known. Naruto, behind Jiraiya on the other side of the lake, dropped down out of the tree he'd been crouching in, and landed silently on his feet. Not even one twig snapped, not one leaf crunched under his soles as he approached Jiraiya. Even so, the Sannin might have detected Naruto if not for his distracting 'research.'

With his hand merely a foot from Jiraiya's white mane, Naruto activated his Rinnegan, and whispered, "Shinra Tensei." Jiraiya screamed as he was thrown into the lake, landing facefirst in the water between the young women he'd been spying on. It was like something out of his worst nightmares.

As the shrieks of "H-Hentai!" grew louder, Hinata leapt out of her hiding spot in the tree, landing on the surface of the water with chakra control so perfect that the water never even rippled under her feet. She withdrew a kunai from her black weapons pouch, and tossed it up into the air. Naruto used the modified Substitution Jutsu to switch places with the kunai, and landed at Hinata's side.

"Listen up!" Naruto called, drawing the attention of the women and a brutalized Jiraiya. "This man, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, was spying on you, as I'm sure you've guessed by now. Such behavior is unacceptable here in Konoha, and since Konoha is _under our protection_, naturally we chose this moment to reveal our presence. We…" he paused, and drew his cutlass, holding it over his head as Hinata did the same, "are Ninken! As long as we draw breath, no harm will come to Konoha and its citizens, whether it's physical…" they pointed their blades at Jiraiya, "or psychological trauma."

He was rather proud of himself, for memorizing and perfectly executing the speech. Meanwhile Hinata stayed silent, as her voice could identify her just as her eyes could. Ninken sheathed their cutlasses, and Naruto finished, "Jiraiya, come with me."

The Toad Sage looked up, with his right eye already developing a black ring beneath it, and he saw Naruto's Rinnegan. If it hadn't been for the pain, he might have actually grinned. _Yeah… _he groaned inwardly. _He's Kushina's and Minato's kid, no doubt. But who the hell is he with? Hinata, or maybe that other Genin on his team. _As he stood on the surface of the water, he thought more about it. "All right, Ninken," he held his hands out at his sides submissively, "You got me."

The ninja next to Naruto stood in place, while Naruto himself approached and led Jiraiya in the general direction of Konoha. _So, he's got the chakra control to walk on water… _Jiraiya noted. _Normal Genin aren't even taught to tree-walk in the Academy, so just what else did you pick up with Hinata's help, Naruto? _When they were past the edge of the lake, Jiraiya let himself smirk. "Not bad, kid. You can take the mask off, now what's all this about?"

Naruto turned off his Rinnegan, and removed his mask, also smirking. "Pervy Sage, this is about you spying on girls when you're supposed to be training me and Hinata. But that's only a part of it. Ninken's been working behind the scenes for a while now, but there's only so much we can do without the world knowing we exist."

Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow. "Ninken? Ninja Hounds, or Ninja Blades?"

"That's right," Naruto replied ambiguously, "Ninken. We're a team of ninja dedicated to protecting Konoha without orders from the Hokage, and my partner back there is probably explaining the exact same thing to those witnesses we just rescued. Most of our members are S-rank, and they answer to me, the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails."

"You're the leader of an S-rank team of missing-nin? You expect me to buy that?" Jiraiya laughed.

"Your opinion doesn't mean much. The Hokage's opinion, and those of Konoha's shinobi and civilians, on the other hand…" Naruto trailed off meaningfully.

"Ah, now it's fitting together. Either Konoha believes your story, or by default they believe two Genin took down the Toad Sage. Or… was it really a Genin with you? I can see you convincing Kiba Inuzuka to help you with this, from what I've heard of him, but he's not the right body shape. That was a girl you were with, and you'd never be able to convince Hinata to do this. It was Hana Inuzuka, Kiba's sister, wasn't it?"

Naruto remained silent and blank-faced.

Jiraiya laughed again. "You just sold her out by saying nothing, kid. The Inuzuka are the only clan I can think of who have a sense capable of guiding them with their eyes covered, namely their sense of smell. Hana had her eyes covered, as well as the dead-giveaway Inuzuka Clan marks on her cheeks, as a display of her skill with her remaining four senses. You had to back up your 'S-rank' claim somehow, am I right?"

"It wasn't Hana. In fact, I'd never heard that name until you said it just now. Kiba never mentioned his sister," Naruto replied evenly.

"Hm?" Jiraiya considered this. "Then… who…?"

"Like I said, S-rank ninjas. I never said we were all from Konoha." Naruto flashed a grin. "Now, we're going to see Hokage-sama, and both try to tell on each other."

Jiraiya nodded. "Well played, but like I said before, I don't buy it."

"And like _I_ said before, it doesn't matter."

X

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled with genuine amusement. The effort in Naruto's scheme was to be applauded, but the Third Hokage had been playing this game for far longer. He'd seen through to the truth almost instantly, thanks to Jiraiya delivering a detailed report just before Naruto began his story. _I suppose Hinata found this little event thrilling and romantic, taking on a Sannin with only each other for backup whilst claiming to be heroes. _"…And so," Naruto finished, "I escorted Jiraiya-sensei here, knowing he'd expect to turn this incident against me and dodge the evidence, and so he was willing to come here to risk meeting his punishment."

"I see." Sarutobi lit his pipe. "Who was your accomplice, really? I know she was a Konoha kunoichi…" Naruto sighed in disappointment, "…and I have a solid guess as to her identity, but I'd love to hear it from you."

"If I give you a name, it doesn't leave this room. She'll receive no punishment of any kind for her involvement in this," Naruto replied adamantly.

"As you wish."

"Hinata Hyuuga."

"What?!" Jiraiya exploded. "But she was the first, the _only_ person I ruled out!"

"Which is another thing that makes her the perfect partner for me to choose. Not to mention us being best friends for two years and now dating as well." Naruto turned a smug grin on Jiraiya. "She's the closest person to me in the world, what the hell possessed you to rule her out as a suspect? She looked too nice and innocent? She's a kunoichi!" Jiraiya's mouth was hanging ever-so-slightly open. He opened it wider to speak, but no words came out, so he instead shut it properly.

"Moving on," the Hokage declared, getting the attention of both, "Naruto, you're to publicly confess the nature of this prank tomorrow morning. The story will spread, and everyone will realize quickly enough that Ninken doesn't exist." Then, the old man's eyes narrowed. "But… you planned that as well?" Naruto gave no response, and the Hokage finished, "I'd expect this if you'd grown up friends with Shikamaru Nara, but as it stands I'm shocked. When did you develop this level of cunning, Naruto?"

"About two years ago, when I started paying attention in history class," Naruto answered flatly. "The four previous Hokage including my dad were all skilled at tricking people and outthinking them. I think Hashirama Senju put it best: 'A ninja must see through deception.'" He paused and laughed. "I gotta be honest, Hokage-sama: I'm trying to pattern myself after you, the only surviving Hokage and the legendary Professor of Shinobi," he finished with respectful admiration.

"Two years ago…" The Hokage mused. "Around the time Hinata Hyuuga made friends with you?"

"That's right. I resolved myself to graduate in the same year she would, so I applied myself in class and learned that to fulfill my dream, to be the next Hokage, being powerful wasn't gonna be enough. So, I studied the strategies of the previous Hokage and their generals, including you, and I'll admit I forgot most of it, but hey, I can come up with stuff like this now, and that's enough."

"Hm…" Sarutobi took a long drag on his pipe. "My decision stands. Deny the existence of Ninken, control the confusion as best you can. Jiraiya, teach Naruto to use that sword, or if you can't, get Hayate Gekkou to do it."

"Hokage-sama?" Jiraiya asked in confusion.

"I'm no good at taijutsu," Naruto clarified. "Hokage-sama wants me to know how to use this sword, so my opponents will keep their distance and I can properly use my ninjutsu."

"I see," Jiraiya nodded. "All right. Hayate's a great choice to teach kenjutsu, the best swordsman in Konoha from what they tell me. That, however," he added, "is gonna wait until you and Hinata survive the Forest of Death for three weeks, as promised."

"Forest of Death?" Naruto gulped.

Jiraiya grinned evilly. "Payback time, kid."

X

_Naruto opened his eyes, and found himself once more in the vibrant meadow he had created for the Nine-Tails. He glanced down at himself, and was reminded that he'd gone to sleep in his full Ninken uniform. The cutlass sheath on his back was empty, and he vaguely recalled laying the weapon on the lid of his father's heirloom trunk._

_The tips of Kyuubi's tails twitched as it noticed Naruto's arrival. "Welcome back," it greeted halfheartedly. _

_Naruto made his way to the wall of the golden cage, "Hi, Kyuubi-san."_

_Not for the first time, the demon fox turned to look at Naruto incredulously. "...I tire of your deceit. Tell me now, with absolute honesty, why you're doing all of this for me." he gestured around with one of his tails. "When I grow hungry, mountains of delicacies present themselves. When I wish to sleep, a bed appears that I fit in. You've even allowed me to wander in this valley from time to time, that I might level forests and mountains as is my nature. But why? I don't understand!"_

_Naruto shrugged. "You knew the Sage of Six Paths, right?"_

_The Kyuubi nodded. "He was like a father to me."_

_"He was also a father to two human sons. The older brother inherited some form of the Rinnegan that eventually evolved into the Sharingan. The younger brother inherited the strength of his father's body and will, and apparently," Naruto pointed at his own Rinnegan, "He got a dormant Rinnegan too. Anyway, the Sage had to pick someone to succeed him, and the Sage chose his younger son."_

_"Where are you going with this? I know it all already!"_

_"So you know how the story ends... except it doesn't end, does it?" Naruto said sadly, and continued, "The older brother attacked the younger, out of jealousy and hatred, and he became the first Uchiha. His younger brother survived, and founded the Senju Clan. The two still hate each other, or at least they did, until both of them were nearly wiped out. Now there's maybe four or five Senju descendants left, including me, an Uzumaki. The Uchiha still have one Genin in Konoha, a kid named Sasuke, and there's a guy named Itachi Uchiha who, like his family, succumbed to hatred and killed off his own clan."_

_The Kyuubi's tails waved airily behind him, and he listened. Naruto kept talking, "So you see, this hatred kept going for centuries, and thousands of people died because of it. And then, there's you and your hatred for humanity. It brought you here to Konoha, and now you're sealed inside me. By every example that's come before us, I should hate you for what you've done, but I paid attention in history class. I know how the story ends: It doesn't. You and I either spend the rest of my life hating each other, and you die when I do, or you break free and start killing people again. That's how everyone expects the story to end."_

_"Or?" the Kyuubi asked, now genuinely interested._

_"Or we can break the cycle. You and I are the only two people involved in the hatred now, there's no one to stop us from ending it forever. There were always a few Uchiha and Senju who said the hate should just stop, but their families were screaming for blood too loudly to notice. Now, it's just you and me, and I'm telling you I want it to stop. Let's be friends, Kyuubi-san."_

_Naruto stepped through the bars of the cage, and held out a hand for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox to take. The Kyuubi stood and approached, teeth bared, but Naruto didn't move away. The boy was smiling, and with those eyes..._

_"You look just like my father. You even sound like him."_

_"My... father?" Naruto repeated, confused. "But you and my dad only met to fight."_

_"No, fool, you misheard. MY father. The Sage of Six Paths." The Kyuubi laid down in front of Naruto, tails swishing contently. "My name is Kurama, now put your hand down, idiot child."_

_Naruto lowered his hand, smiling. "So, are we friends now, Kurama-san?"_

_Kurama bared his teeth in what might have been a smile. "No. We've broken the cycle, as you put it, I no longer hate you. Perhaps I might even respect you, for what I see of the Sage in you. But I won't call you a friend." The horrifying smile faded, and the Tailed Beast grew serious. "I might have chosen this moment to offer you my chakra, but this seal prevents that completely. You're on your own, which is problematic, as I feel a storm coming."_

_"A storm?"_

_"A war." Kurama, though stretched out on his belly, still had to gaze down on Naruto. "I am a weapon to be wielded, boy, and having me sealed within you doesn't make you some ultimate Chosen One. You're not the first, and you likely won't be the last Jinchuuriki no Kyuubi. Akatsuki will come for me, and something tells me they will arrive soon."_

_Naruto whitened. "I'm not so much scared for me, or even Hinata," he thought aloud, "We're strong-"_

_"Not strong enough." Kurama stood then, and glared down at Naruto. "You've been training to fight Chuunin-level Genin, in an at least moderately controlled environment. To survive a meeting with even one of the Akatsuki, you'd need my chakra, which I cannot give you. Even before I was sealed in you, I knew of the power of Akatsuki. It would take perhaps four of them to defeat me in my true form, and you're nowhere near the level of a Tailed Beast. You may have the eyes of the Sage, but you don't have his power."_

_Naruto sighed. "What I was gonna say, is that if they go for Gaara instead of me..."_

_"The Jinchuuriki of Shukaku. Why do you worry for him?"_

_"He'll die if they catch him, and if they get Shukaku from him they can merge it back into the Ten-Tails."_

_"So your real goal is to stop Akatsuki." Kurama laughed grimly. "I'm almost glad to know that. If you were obsessed with protecting the boy himself, it would indicate irrevocably skewed priorities. You've talked to him once, and he intends to kill you. Still you seek to protect him?"_

_"How do you know all of this?" Naruto asked suspciciously._

_"The Tailed Beasts have a limited form of telepathy, enough that I can see through your eyes in the waking world, now that we've established this familiarity." Kurama paused. "All this being said, why do you care for Gaara's safety at all?"_

_Naruto didn't immediately answer, instead he ran a hand through his hair, deep in thought. After careful consideration, he began, "I honestly don't know. Maybe it's because I feel bad for him, maybe I see him as the monster I could have been, but maybe it's simpler than that. Maybe my purpose in life is to save people."_

_"Hm?" Kurama rumbled. "Your purpose... but you've never mentioned such a thing before. Always, it's been 'to be Hokage, that is my dream.' I've seen it countless times in your memories."_

_"Yeah. I wanna be Hokage," Naruto agreed. "But I can't stand the thought of someone dying if I could've saved them. I guess that's why... but I haven't figured all of this out yet. Let's just keep it simple: I want to save people. Gaara's one of them. Saving him will also prevent Akatsuki from taking over the world." he paused. "Wait, you've seen my memories?" _

_"All of them," Kurama confirmed, "I began watching your life story, when I was roused by your accessing my chakra in the Land of Waves. It was only for a brief moment, but yes, you've done it before." _

_"So... you've lived all the things I have, then..." Naruto stopped to consider this. The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox had now read all the same manga as him, tasted the same delicious ramen, had suffered the misery of loneliness as he had. Kurama now remembered what it was like to have a friend in Hinata, to graduate from the Genin Academy, to watch Hinata die and return to life..._

_Naruto blushed, as the realization hit him like a brick wall. "You... saw me and Hinata kiss... you've seen me naked in every shower I've ever had... You know about the Sexy Jutsu?!" _

**Please Review!**


	8. Chuunin Exams!

_Thanks for reviews go to Siriusly Grim, Ryuujin96, SilverMaille, Dragon Man 180, Homarid, Nalsala, *CHAOSprimer,* xXimmortalXx, schnookums, Kingswriter, schnookums again, Dragon Man 180 again, Musical cake, Steam Powered Crow, *That Guy,* and Lyanah twice. _

_Before I get to reviews I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Lyanah, formerly *Forever-A-Guest* who has reviewed every single chapter thus far! Hope you enjoy your new account. _

_*CHAOSprimer:* I hadn't considered giving Hinata a weapon other than her Ninken cutlass, kunai and shuriken, but it's an interesting idea, and it's hardly fair to her and Kiba if Naruto trains with an awesome weapon and they don't. I'll have to work on that. A summoning contract is a neat idea too, and Sage Mode down the road may well happen. _

_schnookums: Naruto in canon used a lot of taijutsu, but I'm trying to avoid that here. With the sword, his collection of ninjutsu, and his Rinnegan, he's already slipping worryingly close to Marty Stu territory, in my eyes, so I promise, no kickass taijutsu, and no genjutsu except the Clone Jutsu, which he can barely use._

_Steam Powered Crow: What Naruto and Hinata can see is indeed natural energy. This was inspired by an image of Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode, which has no animal traits implying he discovered and weaponized natural energy without the aid of a summoned animal. Naruto and Hinata can potentially do the same, but that won't be for a while if it happens at all._

_*That Guy:* for a while now I've been looking forward to bringing back Kiba and giving him a bigger role. He returns in this chapter and will be important from now on._

_Lyanah #1: Hmm... a reputation war, you say? and a Dog Sage Mode for Kiba... clever..._

_Lyanah #2: Sorry, but this is a skip ahead to the Chuunin Exam Arc. I might've continued the arc before this, but it was starting to feel like filler to me, a lot of people wanted Kiba back, and it would be weird to write an arc about Naruto and Hinata training that was longer than the Land of Waves Arc, potentially this arc too, so we're skipping ahead to progress the story. _

X

"Okay, uh..." Naruto began, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I came up here to tell you all the truth." Staring back at him, and the Third Hokage at his side, was most of Konoha, civilian and shinobi alike, at the foot of the Hokage Monument. "For most of my life, I've dreamed of having you all listening, even for just a moment, so... thank you for coming."

"Ninken doesn't exist." Most of the crowd started glancing to their neighbors for answers. "Yeah, I know. Most of you haven't heard the story yet, so I'll tell you now. I, with the help of one other Genin whose name won't be revealed, orchestrated a plan to catch the Sannin Jiraiya in the act of spying on girls. Our plan was to make it look like we weren't Genin at all, but S-rank shinobi working together under the name of Ninken, to protect Konoha. After we revealed Jiraiya's presence to five civilian witnesses, I escorted him to Hokage-sama, although he could have easily escaped or defeated me."

"That part of the plan, revealing my own identity, was supposed to look like an accident. Anyway, what I'm getting at is..." Naruto paused, catching a glimpse of a very familiar face in the crowd. A face with a permanent smirk beneath two crimson marks on his cheeks, framed by shaggy brown hair packed into a white hood. Then, Kiba vanished again. "Uh, what I'm getting at is that Ninken exists, but we're just two normal Konoha Genin."

"You expect us to buy that?" Said a Jounin near the front of the crowd, "Two Genin taking down the legendary Jiraiya? This is a cover story, and a stupid one too!"

Before the crowd could start agreeing firmly, Naruto spoke up. "If that's what you want to believe, fine. Whether Ninken exists or not, whether we're S-rank or Genin or both, doesn't bother me either way." The crowd quieted down at that, surprised. "If I had my way, I'd prefer everyone to think Ninken was real, since it would scare missing-nin organizations like Akatsuki into hesitating before they attacked Konoha. But, Hokage-sama asked me to come out here and tell you the truth. I can't force you to pick one story over the other, and hey, both of 'em make me look pretty good."

"Oh," Naruto added, "Before I go, one more thing." he flashed one of the biggest grins of his life, and activated his Rinnegan proudly. "You're gonna see me up here again one day. I finally have the chance to tell all of you! _I'm gonna be the next Hokage!_" he roared, "Naruto Uzumaki, the Fifth Hokage, _believe it!_"

Naruto stepped into the crowd. In his black Ninken outfit rather than neon orange, he seemed to disappear completely to the eyes of the civilians. He was still grinning, giddy with the joy of finally telling them all at once.

"Ninken. I want in," Kiba whispered suddenly in his ear. Naruto whirled, but Kiba was already blending perfectly into the crowd. As quickly as he had appeared, the third member of Team Eight was gone. The blond Genin sighed with disappointment, then continued his escape from the mob around him.

X

**One Month Later - Chuunin Exams**

Kiba Inuzuka leaned comfortably on the wall behind him, scratching a sleepy Akamaru behind his soft white-furred ears. Asuma's hand kept instinctively twitching toward the pack of cigarettes in his flak jacket, but this was still the Genin Academy, and he couldn't smoke here, much to his discomfort. Kiba, meanwhile, noted this as the beginning of the second happiest moment of his life, surpassed only by the day he'd met Akamaru. After two months of near-nonstop training with a Jounin, he'd completely mastered his new weapon that could be called secret for only a few more hours at best.

_When Naruto and Hinata get here... _he grinned in anticipation. A mere three days into their training, he and Asuma had come up with the concept for their new jutsu, and now it was complete, just in time for his all-but-guaranteed gradutaion through the Chuunin Exams. A new A-rank, potentially S-rank ninjutsu only he and Asuma knew. Kiba's grin broadened, and he declared, "I can smell Naruto and Hinata. They're coming down the hallway now."

He and Asuma turned to look, and saw their two remaining partners appear around the corner at the end of the hall. Hinata apparently expected some degree of stealth test; she'd exchanged her beige-white hoodie for a slightly less bulkier black one, with black sweatpants as well. Naruto was wearing his old neon-orange jumpsuit, or so it initially appeared. Kiba's and Asuma's keen eyes immediately spotted the sole difference from his old cotume: this new jumpsuit covered his legs completely, instead of stopping at mid-calf. He was also wearing black, traditional shinobi footwear instead of his old blue sandals. The hilt of his Ninken cutlass hung over his right shoulder.

"Kiba-kun!" the two greeted happily, slightly out-of-sync; Hinata had spoke first while Naruto's eyes briefly widened, then returned to normal. "and Asuma-sensei!" Hinata added.

Kiba sniffed once, confirming that no one was hiding within hearing range. "It's been a month, Naruto. Do you remember what I said?"

"Naruto-kun, you saw Kiba-kun?" Hinata questioned, surprised.

"No," Naruto replied. "I heard him, but didn't see him, when I told the village about Ninken. I kinda thought I'd imagined it anyway... apparently not."

"I wanna join Ninken," Kiba paraphrased what he'd said then.

Hinata paled, but Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Just to be clear, Kiba, Ninken was just me and Hinata-chan pranking the Pervy Sage."

"I still want in," Kiba repeated. "How do I sign up?"

Asuma watched this exchange with mild interest. Naruto, meanwhile, held out his right hand, palm-up, and intoned, "Asura Path: Forge, Level One." Kiba's eyes widened as a sticky-looking mass of liquid steel formed above Naruto's hand, shaping into a cutlass not unlike his own, but with a handle of cold steel rather than polished wood. "We all carry one of these. I just made this with my chakra, so it's not exactly a quality weapon, but it's a lightweight lethal tool you might as well have."

Kiba took the blade, while Naruto created a scabbard of the same metal, and a sash from thin links of chain. Kiba hung the completed sword and sheath over his back as Naruto had done. "So, what else did you guys learn while I was gone?"

Naruto drew his own, better-made Uzumaki cutlass, grinning excitedly. "I spent the last two weeks learning how to use this, from a Tokubetsu Jounin named Hayate Gekko. He's a master of kenjutsu. Before that, me and Hinata were doing survival training..."

_(Flashback)_

_Jiraiya formed a single hand seal, and declared with malice, "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu." Two dozen copies of the Toad Sage sprinted at full speed into the Forest of Death, leaving behind the original, Naruto, and Hinata. Jiraiya ordered, "Get in there and kill all those clones. I'll be sending in twenty-four more, every three days, until the full twenty-one days are over, at which point the remaining clones will gather at the tower in the center of this forest, and you'll have to defeat every survivor if you want to leave."_

_Naruto and Hinata shivered._

_(End Flashback)_

"And before that I was improving my Rinnegan."

Hinata beamed, despite the memories of their painful survival training, and showed Kiba her Rasengan. "And I learned this," she continued proudly. "An A-rank ninjutsu developed by the Fourth Hokage. While Naruto-kun was learning to use his sword, I was improving my skill with it. If I had a little more time, I might have figured out a way to pair it with the Water Release, but..." she trailed off in disappointment. "So, what did you learn with Asuma-sensei?"

Kiba simply grinned again, as did Akamaru. "Aw, no way!" Naruto groaned. "You're gonna play the 'it's a surprise' card? We showed you ours!"

Kiba shrugged. "Ah, fine." he brought his hands up, and the other two Genin expected a hand seal sequence, but instead, Kiba punched his left palm. Both his hands burst into flame. "Fire Release..." Akamaru leapt from his hoodie, landing on his paws even as he was wrapped in crimson flame. "Hellhound Flame Armor." Kiba was also consumed in bright red fire chakra. As quickly as it appeared, however, the fire auras were extinguished, leaving Naruto and Hinata with no idea what the jutsu was supposed to actually do.

"Uh..." Naruto squinted. "That was cool, but... what's it for?"

"Winning the Chuunin Exams, along with every fight I'm in for the rest of my life," Kiba announced smugly.

Before anyone could respond to the boast, Asuma opened the door to the exam room, which Genin were forbidden to do through a seal on the door. This way, incomplete Genin teams, or teams who hadn't been approved for the exam by their Jounin teacher, were kept out of the potentially lethal tests they'd likely fail. "Team Eight," Asuma commanded, "Go win your promotions, and come back in one piece."

One by one, the Genin nodded, and stepped through the doors. Naruto sheathed his cutlass, of which he was rather fond by now. He spotted the other three Konoha Genin teams, including Lee who waved with a grin. There were also over three dozen teams of Genin he'd never seen before, a dozen shinobi in flak jackets who could've been either Chuunin or Jounin... and the trio of Suna Genin, including Gaara.

_Shukaku... _Kurama growled with hate in his tone. _What I wouldn't give to take your body, Naruto, and tear that boy to shreds!_

Naruto gasped aloud. _Kurama-san. I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop scaring me like that. I'm not used to hearing voices in my head yet._

Kurama remained silent for a moment, then spoke more quietly. _I see. _

_And you can't kill Gaara. Even if we had the option of sharing this body properly, even if I trusted you enough to take that option, and I don't yet... I'm hoping to save Gaara, if at all possible._

_I acquiesce to that course of action, but that doesn't mean I like the idea of sparing Shukaku. As such, I will continue to say so. _

Gaara turned, locking his hateful teal eyes with Naruto's sealed Rinnegan. Naruto took this as am oppurtunity to initiate a conversation with his fellow Jinchuuriki, and approached Gaara. "Uzumaki," Gaara greeted with a quiet growl. "I look forward to killing you," he announced bluntly.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment... Anyway, I've been doing some research since we met last... let me show you something." he pulled a piece of folded paper from his weapons pouch, torn on one edge, and unfolded it. On it was an illustration of a fuinjutsu, consisting of a spiral surrounded by eight complex swirling symbols in two sets of four. "This is the Eight Trigrams Seal."

"A fuinjutsu..." Gaara inspected the seal, considering this. "The seal you bear to contain the Kyuubi?"

"That's right," Naruto nodded. "I did some research on some of the similar seals Suna has access to. Even the strongest seals they have wouldn't be able to seperate a Bijuu's mind from its Jinchuuriki... what I'm getting at is, you can't sleep, can you?"

Gaara's black-ringed eyes narrowed. "What's your point?"

"My point is that I can sleep at night, without fear of the Kyuubi," Naruto decided not to mention his improving relationship with the demon, "Because this seal, the Eight Trigrams, is way stronger. So I'll make you a deal, Gaara: I'll learn how to apply the Eight Trigrams Seal, even if it takes me years to do it, and I'll seal Shukaku from you properly. You'll be able to sleep at night. In exchange, you help me find the other seven Bijuu, and their Jinchuuriki if they're sealed, so we can all fight together against Akatsuki."

Gaara blinked, and took the piece of paper. "This seal... With this, I can sleep?"

_DON'T DO IT, SON! It's a trick, that seal will kill us!_

Gaara groaned in sudden agony, and doubled over, drawing confused stares from the other Genin surrounding them, and a concerned one from Naruto. _But that makes no sense, mother! _He protested feebly. _He knows I'd ask to see his seal, and if it matches..._

_NO! _Shukaku roared. _You will not!_

_But I want to sleep, mother! I want to close my eyes and dream!_

Gaara screamed as Shukaku increased his volume tenfold, but after a few moments the Tailed Beast fell silent, fuming. "I... Uzumaki, show me your seal." Naruto lifted his shirt, and an exact duplicate of the symbol on the paper faded into place on his belly. "...So it's true, mother," he murmured. "We have nothing to fear. He'll help us." Naruto tried to figure out what Gaara was talking about, but got nowhere. "Uzumaki. We _will _fight in this exam, you and I are far above these others and it's impossible anyone else could eliminate one of us. Defeat me, and I'll accept this deal. Lose, and I'll kill you."

Naruto considered that, then smirked. "That's better than what you told me last time. Deal!"

Gaara turned his nightmarish gaze past Naruto. "There's a fight about to begin," he observed, and nodded to where a bespectacled, silver-haired boy was surrounded by three Genin Naruto had never seen before. "The boy with the glasses will likely die."

Naruto nodded. "Watch this, Gaara." he made a short sequence of hand seals, and intoned quietly, "Substitution Jutsu." Gaara's eyes widened momentarily, as Naruto switched places with Kabuto Yakushi. Then, he turned to where Naruto was confronting a hunchbacked, mostly mummified older Genin, who swung a gauntleted fist at him. With lightning speed and decent skill, Naruto whipped his cutlass from its sheath and knocked the other Genin's fist aside.

A frighteningly loud, piercing ring vibrated off of Naruto's sword and Dosu's Melody Arm, which startled every other Genin in the room. Dosu's exposed eye narrowed, but he slid his sleeve back over the gauntlet and stepped back. _He can counter the Melody Arm with his sword... I should have pulled my punch, I would have gotten him with the sound wave. The one weakness of my arm, is that if another metal weapon intercepts the strike, it distorts the frequency into something I can't work with. _Under his bandages, Dosu scowled. _And he's fast with that sword. _"Zaku, Kin, we'll ignore this one for now."

Naruto flashed a victorious smile as Dosu turned away, and sheathed his cutlass. Kabuto made his way back to where Naruto had replaced him, shortly followed by Gaara. "Thanks for the save, kid. I'm Kabuto Yakushi." he held out his hand, and Naruto shook it. "What was that jutsu you used, that made the sound wave?"

"Jutsu?" Naruto repeated. "Nah. I just hit his gauntlet with my sword, and it made a ringing sound."

"Hm... so maybe the sound came from him, not you," Kabuto observed. "I didn't know the Substitution Jutsu could be used like that, though."

"Yeah, it can be any inanimate object, or a person standing still. It's just, a lot of ninjas here in Konoha use logs." Naruto glanced up at Kabuto's Konoha headband. "That's probably because there's usually a forest within range of any given battle."

Kabuto nodded. "So, you've been working on innovations for the jutsu, then?"

"A couple of 'em," Naruto admitted. "But," he glanced at Hinata, "I wasn't the one who came up with the idea."

A Jounin in a black trenchcoat stalked through the crowd of Genin, and clamped his hand onto Naruto's shoulder. "Fights before the exam begins are prohibited!" Ibiki proclaimed loudly. "Were you the one who started this?" He asked Naruto.

"No, I didn't see how it started," the orange-clad boy replied truthfully. "It could've been Kabuto, or the mummy over there," he nodded to Dosu, "who started it, but I didn't see it, so there's no evidence against either side. I just stepped in, 'cause this guy was triple-teaming Kabuto. It didn't look fair to me."

"Fair?" Ibiki scoffed.

"Yeah, I know. Life isn't fair, blah blah," Naruto shrugged it off. "But this is the Chuunin Exams, a controlled environment which is meant to be a fair test of a Genin's skill."

"Hm." Ibiki nodded. "A _fair _point, and a well-timed one. Everyone," he called, "It's time to begin the first stage of the Chuunin Exam. Follow me."

The Genin teams were led into the next room, which was full of desks and chairs. They were seated in groups of three, with each team being seated together, and given a piece of paper and a pencil. _A written test? _Naruto pondered. _Seems simple enough... _

_Which is exactly what worries me, _Kurama disagreed.

"All right," Ibiki spoke over the murmurs of confusion. "Here's how this works. You have half an hour to complete the nine questions on this test. Each correct answer you write down will earn you a point. Incorrect answers don't lose you points, nor do questions left blank. Your team's scores will be pooled together, and if you collectively have over twenty points, you pass. However, Chuunin proctors, as you can see, have lined the room. If they catch you cheating, you'll lose two points, which can lead to an overall negative score that can cripple your team. If you get caught cheating five times, you and your team are eliminated from the exam. Begin."

Naruto flipped over his test and winced. _Ouch... and here I thought I could handle written tests._

_Fool, _Kurama growled. _Even I know these questions are above the level of any Genin. That man with the black coat made it very clear what you're meant to do. Cheat, and not get caught._

_How do you know that? _Naruto wondered.

_Simple enough: most of your fellow Genin are groaning, which means they don't have answers either. The next logical assumption is that, since these questions are not meant to actually be answered by Genin, there are Chuunin hidden amongst us, who will write down the answers for us to cheat with. _

_...Huh. Thanks for the help with that, Kurama-san. _Naruto glanced at Hinata. "Hey, Hinata, take a quick _look around_. Look for any Chuunin you recognize, any friends?"

Hinata blinked. _Hm? Oh... Oh! My Byakugan! I can see from all angles and through people's bodies! _She nodded subtly, and looked down at her paper. Her hair, though cut short, was just long enough to cover the telltale defined veins of an active Byakugan, and she immediately spotted Shikamaru Nara at the back of the class, quickly writing the answers without a hint of concern. She started writing down his answers, and Naruto glanced down subtly at her own page, copying the answers. Kiba did the same. They never found out whether teammates were allowed to share answers, or they simply weren't caught.

Ibiki strolled through the rows of desks after a Chuunin handed him a piece of paper. "When I tap you on the shoulder, leave and come back for the next exam in six months." He proceeded to eliminate a third of the class. Team 8 whitened as Ibiki approached, but he passed them by and resumed his position in front of the blackboard. Several minutes later, when he saw no one was still writing, he spoke up again. "Now, it's time for the tenth question. Flip your tests over, you're done with them." The Genin class obliged, and Ibiki continued, "Before I give you the tenth question, I must warn you; answering this question incorrectly will prevent you from ever taking this exam again. If you leave instead, you can come back in six months, and try to become Chuunin then, when you're better prepared. Is that clear to all of you?"

Naruto laid his hand over Hinata's, and whispered, "Do you think we're ready, Hinata-chan?"

She blushed. "You're asking m-me?"

"You, then Kiba." he smiled. "Do either of you have doubts?"

Kiba grinned. "None. I'm ready for this."

Hinata smiled too. "Yes, I think we can handle it."

Naruto nodded, and smiled back warmly. "Then let's do this."

Meanwhile, half of the remaining class stood and left the room, unwilling to take such a huge risk. Naruto had considered making a dramatic and inspiring speech about how completely unafraid he was, but he'd realized that would mean convincing his competition to stay and fight him. Kurama had been preparing to tell Naruto this, but the heir of the Rinnegan had seen it for himself.

"Are all the rest of you staying for the tenth question?" Ibiki asked. "Are you prepared to risk your careers as shinobi?" One more team left at that, but the rest remained in their seats. "Well... congratulations. That was the tenth question, and you answered correctly."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Why didn't I see that?" he murmured. Hinata and Kiba glanced over at him, surprised. "The first nine questions had a different purpose than what we were told," he explained. "It was to see if we were willing and able to cheat, to gather information stealthily." By now, the class had fallen silent, and Naruto's voice was ringing clearly throughout the room. "This tenth one was to see what kind of risk we're willing to take, to complete the mission. Taken together, the test made us prove our courage in staying and in cheating for the first nine questions, our ability to actually cheat with a Chuunin's level of skill, and possibly also our ability to figure out we were being lied to. A ninja must see through deception."

"Thank you for explaining all that," Ibiki added with a nod. "Well spoken."

Naruto looked around at the silent classroom, and blushed faintly. "Uh..."

Ibiki removed his bandanna, and everyone in the room winced. His head was covered in gruesome scars and there were a few places where his skull would have to have been pierced to leave such a crater. "I got these when I was a Chuunin," he declared. "I know the kind of risks you'll have to take in the field, to finish the mission." He replaced the bandanna. "Those of you who left weren't ready for it, and by leaving, those Genin probably saved their own lives. Shinobi die in battle every day. As Chuunin, you'll be given life-threatening missions well above the harmless D-rank assignments Genin receive. These exams are to determine whether you're ready for that."

He smiled, and it was very slightly unnerving for most of the Genin to see. "You've passed the first of three tests in the Chuunin Selection Examination. Congra-"

One of the windows in the classroom was obliterated by a large black cloth bundle flying through it. The bundle exploded outward in the dead center of the room, and four kunai were thrown out from its center by a purple-haired kunoichi. She was grinning, but the best way Naruto could describe that smile was 'venomous.'

When he saw her still holding a fifth kunai, he, like several other Genin, leapt to his feet. He drew his cutlass as he approached and swung, but her grin merely broadened. She smashed her kunai into his sword to block, kicked him in the groin, and headbutted him when he doubled over. "That had to be the most telegraphed attack I've ever seen," she growled, her voice at odds with her cheerful smile. Naruto mumbled something quiet in response. "What was that? C'mon, speak up so we can hear that nice new soprano voice," she mocked.

"I said, _Wind Scar_!" Naruto roared, and whipped his sword at the kunoichi to launch the cluster of wind blades. She easily dodged, but the banner that proclaimed her name to be Anko Mitarashi was cut to pieces, as was the blackboard at the front of the room. Pieces of green slate fell from the wall and shattered further on the ground, meanwhile Anko was being confronted by Hinata, Kiba, and several other Genin.

Ibiki stepped forward through the ruined curtain bearing Anko's name. "Genin, stand down. This is Anko Mitarashi, the second proctor of the Chuunin Exams. She'll administer your second test, and she's a Tokubetsu Jounin like myself. If she wanted to, she could kill everyone in this room excluding me in perhaps ten seconds, so stand down, and you'll make it to the second test." Ibiki turned to Anko. "Then again, this dynamic entry you're so fond of is getting dumber every year. And you never time it right."

Anko laughed. "I like scaring the crap out of these maggots," she admitted. "By that standard, my timing was great." she turned to Naruto, who was reluctantly sheathing his cutlass. She draped an arm over his shoulders, and purred in his ear, "Gotta say though, I like the balls on this kid."

_Repulsive woman, _Kurama snarled. Naruto couldn't help but agree. He brushed her arm off, and growled in a low voice, "Back off, psycho. You're not my type, too _old_, and I'm taken anyway."

Everyone gasped, even Ibiki, and Hinata blushed. Anko, however, just laughed again. "_Yeeeaah_..." she drawled, "I can't even begin to tell you how dead you are in the next test, punk."

_If you get the chance, kill this creature, _Kurama advised. Meanwhile, Hinata and Kiba had made their way closer to Naruto's sides, not taking their eyes from Anko's. "...Well," Anko continued, "I guess I've had my fun. Follow me to the second test."

X

Naruto and Hinata stared up at the treetops of the Forest of Death ahead of them. Despite knowing the hell they'd be facing in a few minutes, Naruto was smirking as subtly as he could. For three weeks, he and Hinata had wandered through Training Ground Forty-Four, and knew their way around it, a huge tactical advantage. They knew what monstrous creatures lurked here, and had run into more than one sentient plant that had tried to eat them, plants they now could recognize.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Anko announced to them all with a grandiose voice and pose, "Behold Training Ground Forty-Four, also known as the Forest of Death." she gestured to the fenced-in forest with a wave. "This is where you're gonna suffer through the second test." She nodded to a shack leaning on the fence, covered in a curtain. "Each team of three goes into that shack and comes out with a scroll. One's white, the Heaven Scroll, and the other's green; that's the Earth Scroll."

She grinned. "You need one of each scroll to pass this test." her smile widened as the Genin began talking about that. "Yeah! That's right! At least half of you maggots are gonna fail, and probably more. See, if a Genin team manages to last through the whole five days you get, and doesn't lose their scroll but also doesn't grab another team's scroll, that team fails, and by extension so will the other team with the other scroll they might have taken. On top of that, I hear it's popular to take a scroll of your own type, even though you don't need it. And here's the stinger: even if you get both scrolls, you've gotta bring 'em to a tower in the center of the forest, dodging any other teams that gather there in hopes of getting one or both scrolls in the endgame. If you have both scrolls and never reach the tower before your five days are up, you're outta luck, punks."

Naruto nodded, though no one was watching him. _They'll want to hand out an even number of Heaven and Earth Scrolls, so as many teams as possible can pass if they're worthy. That gives me an idea..._

"Now, did everybody get what I said?" Anko demanded. No one intended to respond, but if they had, they wouldn't have had enough time. "Good! Line up, grouped with your teams, and file into that shack one team at a time to receive your scrolls."

Kiba, Sasuke Uchiha, and Gaara were the first to make their way to the shack, followed by their teams. Sasuke, Sakura, and Lee entered the shack and exited quickly. Next were the Sand trio, and third came Team Eight. A female Jounin inside handed Hinata a Heaven Scroll, which she tucked into her weapons pouch.

As soon as they were outside, Naruto whispered, "Byakugan. Use it to see who gets an Earth Scroll."

Hinata glanced back at the shack. "N-Naruto-kun, that seems a little underhanded."

The orange-clad Genin flinched. "Sorry!" he quickly replied, ashamed. "I just thought..."

"No," Hinata replied, and nodded. "It makes sense, I'm just surprised you suggested it, Naruto. Byakugan." the veins around her eyes bulged, and she whispered, "To be honest, I was already considering it. The team behind us, they're from Kusa, they got an Earth Scroll..." she paused for a few seconds. "The Genin from Oto just got a Heaven Scroll, the boy wrapped in bandages took it." she paused again. "They're already taking an Earth Scroll out of a box, to give to the next team."

"Kiri Genin," Naruto observed the three shinobi not yet inside the shack. "So, following the pattern you saw, Team Seven has a Heaven Scroll, and the Suna team have an Earth Scroll. We'll want to avoid a fight with them for now; Gaara's a Jinchuuriki with access to Shukaku's power. He's strong."

"So our targets... They'd be either the Kusa or Kiri shinobi," Hinata mused.

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Think of the advantages: if we take an Earth Scroll immediately, then we can beeline for the tower and maybe set a new record for the fastest pass through the test. Also, we're less likely to get hurt if we're in as few fights as possible, and we end up hurting less people in return."

While the other teams were receiving their scrolls, however, Naruto was still wincing internally. _Underhanded... Hinata-chan's completely right, that was a low move I asked her to use. Bad enough we already know the terrain, but this? _

_Don't bother worrying about it, _Kurama scoffed. _You have an advantage going into a life-or-death battle. Use it._

"Naruto-kun," Hinata began as they were guided to a gate in the fence by a Chuunin, "What's wrong? I can see how on edge you are."

He smiled. "It's no big deal. I think I just drank some spoiled milk this morning."

Hinata looked down sadly, and when she looked up, her Byakugan eyes were already glistening. "Please don't lie. That really hurts, that you don't trust me."

Naruto flinched for the second time, and closed his eyes. "I'm really sorry, it's just... I shouldn't have asked you to use your Byakugan for that. It was wrong."

"Is that all?" she asked, and he nodded. She flashed a warm smile, and clasped her hand around his. "It's fine. Like I said, I thought of it anyway."

"You really meant that?"

"Mm-hm. I wouldn't lie to you." for the third time, he winced as if he'd been struck. "Oh, stop it," she whispered. "I didn't mean it like that, now relax." she commanded, then blushed. "I-I mean, you're p-probably just on edge from the p-pressure. It'll b-be okay, really."

Naruto beamed, and squeezed her hand gently. "Thanks, Hina-chan. I don't know what I'd do without you."

_Hina-chan? _Her blush deepened, but she smiled. _I think I like the sound of that. _"You'll n-never have to f-find out, N-Naru-kun," she promised.

_Naru-kun? _Naruto repeated mentally. _I think I like the sound of that._

X

Orochimaru clutched the Earth Scroll in his pocket, baring his teeth in a smirk under his straw hat. _Excellent. Everything is going exactly according to plan, right down to these scrolls. Little Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun both have the opposite scroll to this one, so they'll likely attack me, if I keep it exposed. From there, everything else is simple. I'll subjugate them both with my Cursed Seal, and kill Naruto immediately. The Kyuubi won't get a chance to give me trouble, and I'll have one Rinnegan eye for this body, plus the other for Sasuke's. when I'm ready to steal it._

His smirk broadened into a terrible grin, and he licked his lips with anticipation. _With the Sharingan's ability to copy any jutsu it sees, and the Rinnegan's accelerated jutsu-learning speed coupled with affinities to all five elements, I'll be able to learn every jutsu in the world, in a decade at most. Victory at last!_

**Please Review!**


	9. Enter the Forest of Death!

_Thanks for reviews go to mmendoza688, Steam Powered Crow, Musical cake, Kingswriter, Kawaii Fruits, SilverMaille, Lyanah, Dragon Man 180, and The Magical Wizard of Ninjas. _

_mmendoza688: I had to look up what you meant. Maybe it's just something they left out in the English dub, but Orochimaru never struck me as a pedophile, just creepy in the usual sense. Now I know though, so thanks._

_Steam Powered Crow: Thanks. The idea was that Pein was raised in Ame with all its comparatively advanced technology that Naruto doesn't know about, so the idea to give himself robot arms hasn't occured to him._

_Muscial cake: Indeed, he's quite creepy, which should make him rather fun to write._

_Kingswriter: ...Good point, my bad._

_Kawaii Fruits: Oh, I can do 'more creepy,' don't worry about that._

_SilverMaille: Thanks, I hope you like this chapter too._

_Lyanah: Holy crap. You write freaking awesome reviews._

_Dragon Man 180: Yes, Kiba can combine his fire cloak with Fang Passing Fang, and yes, Naruto can make weapons out of his chakra with the Asura Path of he's disarmed. Both ideas should be fun to play with._

_The Magical Wizard of Ninjas: Ah, yes. I've been trying to write through the story slower, but that's always been something I've had difficulty with. I'll work on it._

X

Kiba took Akamaru off his head, nestling him instead in his half-zipped hoodie. He was grinning, looking up at the massive treetops of the Forest of Death. _Fire Release is gonna be so overpowered in here, _he noted with excitement.

"Kiba," Naruto addressed him seriously, "The Forest of Death is surrounded by a fence with forty-four gates in it. From the look of things, each Genin team is going through a different gate. They're a good distance apart, but I'm pretty sure they didn't randomize the sequence when they lined us up, since they handed out scrolls in a Heaven-Earth-Heaven pattern. If that's true, the Sand Genin are to our left, and Kusa's to our right. Both have Earth Scrolls, but only one has a Bijuu."

"So what's the plan? We know we wanna go after Kusa, right?" Kiba asked, and Naruto nodded. "Then I've got an idea. We'll head inward toward the tower, but slightly veer right toward the Kusa team's gate. Even if our paths aren't perfectly lined up to cross, it should bring us close enough. Me and Akamaru smelled snakeskin on one of their Genin. It was subtle, maybe he has a snakeskin wallet or something, but if we get close enough we can track it."

Naruto flashed a grin. "Nice one, Kiba. It still needs my guess about the patterns to be right, though, and if I'm wrong... what's our plan B?"

Hinata gently laid a hand on his shoulder, and said, "My Byakugan. If Kiba can't smell the Kusa Genin, I'll spend some chakra and look around for them."

"Perfect! We're gonna pull this off, believe it." The gate in front of them let off a loud buzzing noise, and popped open. Immediately, Kiba lunged into the Forest of Death with a wild grin, shortly followed by Naruto and Hinata. Fitting the typical training of shinobi, they chose to leap from tree limb to tree limb, in order to conceal themselves in the foliage. After roughly two minutes of moving at top speed, however, Naruto called, "Wait up," and came to a stop.

"Huh?" Kiba turned back and faced him, as did Hinata. "What's up?"

"I'm wearing bright orange on a mission where stealth is a huge factor," Naruto pointed out.

"And? What're you gonna do about it?" Kiba asked, confused. "Did you bring a change of clothes?"

Naruto wordlessly slung off his sword and sash, setting them against the trunk of the tree he was hidden in. Hinata's eyes widened, and she turned bright red when he unzipped his jacket with his back turned to them. Kiba snorted, and looked away, but Hinata merely stared and mumbled, "N-Naruto-k-kun what are y-you d-" she cut herself off when she saw he was wearing his black Ninken outfit beneath his orange jumpsuit. "Oh."

Naruto removed his pants as well, and produced a blank scroll from his weapons pouch. He opened it and began to trace a pattern on it with his finger. "Fuinjutsu: Open Seal. Ten pounds, seven cubic feet." An empty circle appeared in the middle of the new seal, and he stuffed his clothes into it. He rolled up the scroll, returned his cutlass to his back, and said, "Sorry for the wait, guys." He leapt to the branch Hinata and Kiba were standing on, and noticed Hinata's bright red face. "Hina-chan, are you okay?"

"Oh, um..." she started playing with her fingers. "I thought you were... um..." she gestured to the scroll in his hand. "Changing," she finished quietly, and her blush darkened.

Kiba choked back a laugh that might have alerted other Genin teams to their presence, but then his eyes narrowed, and he sniffed. Akamaru growled. "It's the Kusa Genin with the snakeskin scent, he's getting close. Now I can smell blood on him, too."

"He's already killed someone? But we've only been in here for maybe two minutes!" Naruto exclaimed. "And why's he coming in our direc-"

"Sh," Hinata whispered, and pointed. Approaching them on the ground was a sole Kusa Genin, smiling coldly and drenched in blood. His Earth Scroll was tied very visibly to his right sleeve, and although his straw hat shadowed the top half of his face, Team Eight recognized him. "What's the plan?"

"I don't get it," Kiba growled quietly. "He still smells way farther away than he is. This is creepy."

Naruto remained silent, thinking. _He's killed someone, possibly multiple people judging by the amount of blood on him. And his two partners... I don't see them at all. Did he... did he kill his own team?_

_His chakra... _Kurama mused, worriedly, _it's very powerful, and dark. More sinister than my own, and twisted somehow._

Naruto sighed quietly with frustration. "I'll start with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, then a Wind Scar from my sword. Kiba, use your fire armor thing, but only once Hina-chan and I give the signal. Otherwise, you'll light up, show him our position, and maybe burn us."

"None of that will be necessary," the Kusa Genin called, and removed his hat, dropping it at his side. "Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka. Just come down here, and I'll make you a fair trade." he flashed a sadistic grin. "Your two Rinnegan eyes, for Hinata's and Kiba's lives respectively."

A wave of killing intent, a hundred times stronger than the Demon Brother's grief and fury at the loss of his twin, slammed into Team Eight. All three froze, unable to even breathe, and Naruto slumped weakly against the trunk of the tree they were in. _I can't even move... I can't breathe... _he began shuddering uncontrollably, his eyes locked helplessly on Orochimaru.

Then, his despair was shattered before it could do any permanent damage. _WEAKLING! _Kurama roared, shocking him into moving. _I cannot give you my chakra, but all the same, you WILL NOT let us die here! Kill this snake, eviscerate him, slice him into a mound of dripping red flakes with all the power in your arms. DRAW YOUR SWORD!_

"Shut up," Naruto croaked, and shook his remaining terror out of his head, standing. He ripped his cutlass from its sheath, and held it in a perfect one-handed kenjutsu stance. "I was already working on it."

"N-Naruto..." Hinata looked up at him with hope, but also confusion. She hadn't heard Kurama's half of the conversation, so Naruto's made no sense.

The killing intent radiating from Orochimaru vanished, and the Sannin looked up at the Genin with surprise and interest. "Hm? Talking to the Demon Fox, I assume..."

Hinata and Kiba gasped as the pressure was lifted, and shakily got to their feet. Naruto leapt down out of the tree, and landed nimbly to face the foe he still took to be a Genin. "Hinata," he began, "stay back and use the Rasengan as much as you can, maybe some Phoenix Flowers to keep him dodging and distracted. Kiba, use the fire armor thing. I don't know what it does, but I'm guessing it'll hurt this guy."

"Ah? So they defer to you as leader?"

Naruto began forming hand seals with only his left hand, doubling the length of the sequence to make up for his right hand holding his sword. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

Seeing Orochimaru dodging the blast, Kiba punched his left palm and declared, "Fire Release: Hellhound Flame Armor." He, along with a growling Akamaru in his hoodie, burst into crimson flame. His grin returned, a bit shaky but still there. _The base level of this jutsu isn't gonna cut it, and if all goes well this should be our only fight in this forest. _"Hellhound Mode: Level One, Baskerville."

Akamaru's tiny white form melted into Kiba's chest, and his arms grew longer. He hunched over, snarling, as his dog's pale fur sprouted over his whole body. His face transformed into a dog's, or perhaps a wolf's elongated muzzle, and his fingernails grew into pointed claws. He bared his teeth and barked angrily at the 'Kusa Genin,' then stepped forward, dropping out of the tree and landing next to Naruto.

"That jutsu looks rather interesting... Fire Release nintaijutsu, it seems, coupled with the Inuzuka Clan's jutsu to share a body with a ninja hound... rather impressive, for a Genin."

"You say it like you're not a Genin," Hinata observed, even as she shaped a Rasengan in each palm.

"Hm," was their foe's only response, until he opened his mouth wider than any human should have been able to. An emerald-green snake wormed out of his throat, and produced a Chinese jian broadsword which Orochimaru took in his right hand. "Kenjutsu, then," he replied, facing Naruto. "I'd heard you were a ninju-"

"Shinra Tensei!" Orochimaru's eyes widened as he was flung backwards into a tree, and he landed amidst its roots. "Shut up," Naruto commanded, and lunged toward Orochimaru. He came to a stop at a proper distance for kenjutsu, and blocked Orochimaru's first strike. _He's strong, and fast, _Naruto observed, then blocked Orochimaru's next strike as well, this one aimed for his head. _He doesn't seem to be using any formal style, though. I'd guess he just picked that sword up and decided to start swinging it around instead of fists. _

The older and far more powerful shinobi, however, began pressing Naruto back, grinning evilly. "Come on, boy, show me more ninjutsu," the Sannin prodded.

Naruto leapt into the air to dodge a swing that would have cut him in half, forming one-handed seals in midair. "Wind Release: Wind Scar!" he swung his sword to launch the simple wind-blade attack, one of few that could be fired from a sword, but Orochimaru sidestepped, and lunged. "Shinra Tensei!" Naruto countered, aiming his palms at the ground and throwing himself higher in the air.

Orochimaru merely laughed as he flew directly at Hinata, who paled and threw one of her two Rasengan. Orochimaru's eyes widened, and he quickly formed a few seals. "Wind Release: Wind Clone Jutsu!" an exact copy of the disguised Sannin appeared to his right, and promptly exploded into a gust of wind, knocking Orochimaru to the side in time to dodge the Rasengan. Kiba kicked off of the ground and intercepted Orochimaru in midair, but the Sannin planted his hand on Kiba's fiery chest, declaring "Summoning Jutsu!"

As Orochimaru pulled his burnt hand away, a ten-foot-long crimson snake appeared and wrapped itself around Kiba, apparently immune to the flames. Orochimaru landed as the Genin did, but jumped toward Hinata again. He grinned, and landed in front of Hinata, who aimed her second Rasengan. He leaned to the side and dislocated her wrist with a simple slap to her arm. She screamed in sudden pain, but fell silent as Orochimaru pressed his jian against her throat. "Settle down," he purred, "You'll never kill me, so don't bother trying."

"Hinata!" Naruto called, his voice dripping with fear. Orochimaru turned his smirk on the blond boy, still with his blade against Hinata's neck. "Stop," Naruto called, and reached for the two desperately. "You want my Rinnegan, there's no need to hurt her..."

The 'Kusa Genin' chuckled, and twitched his wrist, drawing a trickle of blood and a yelp from Hinata. "Come closer," he commanded, and Naruto began walking forward.

"I don't know who you are, how you know about me, or what you plan to use my eyes for," Naruto added, "but you can have them. Just let her go, I'll cut them out myself if that's what it takes... _Banshou Tenin_!"

Orochimaru snarled, and tried to drag his sword across Hinata's jugular, but it was already being pulled away from her. It accelerated, dragging his arm with it, and stopped with it pointed directly at Naruto. The boy's Rinnegan eyes were blazing with fury. Orochimaru pulled on his sword, but it wouldn't budge.

"Rasengan!" Hinata cried, and aimed a third swirling ball of chakra at his head.

"Substitution Jutsu," Orochimaru countered, and Hinata's attack smashed into a moss-covered log. He reappeared in a tree near Kiba, but before the flame-clad Genin could strike, Naruto rocketed through the air, roaring, and smashed his sword into Orochimaru's Kusanagi. "You bastard!" the younger ninja snarled, and Orochimaru, much to his shock and disgust, found himself retreating, leaping backward through the trees as Naruto pressed his assault. "I! WILL! KILL! YOU!" he roared, punctuating each word with another vicious strike, the last of which grazed Orochimaru's cheek, slicing through his mask of stolen flesh and revealing his pale grey skin beneath.

_Yes! _Kurama thundered in his head, ignored but still delighted. _It feels good to simply pour your rage into a battle to the death, doesn't it? Obliterate him! _

Orochimaru scowled, and dodged another sequence of furious attacks. Naruto seemed to have completely abandoned kenjutsu in favor of swinging his weapon like a barbarian, snarling at each miss. The Sannin saw his chance, and closed the distance between himself and Naruto. He sank his teeth into the Genin's neck, and Naruto screamed in agony. A swirling Cursed Seal formed on his shoulder, just below where Orochimaru had bitten him, and he leapt back into another tree, slightly further from the Sannin.

Hinata and Kiba heard Naruto's scream, and she whitened in horror. "Oh, no." she immediately began sprinting through the trees toward the battle, which by now was far away. "Byakugan!" her eyes revealed Naruto in the distance, clearly hurt but alive.

Kiba, behind her called, "Wait up, Hinata! You can't take that guy alone!"

"Then hurry up," she countered coldly, but added in an apologetic tone, "Naruto-kun is still fighting, but he's weak."

Kiba nodded behind her, which she saw with her Byakugan. "All right. We can't just let that bastard kill him." he picked up the pace and caught up to her. "What's happening now?"

"Naruto's staying away from the Kusa ninja... no, wait, he just attacked again... Oh!" she winced as his sword was snapped in two by the Kusanagi. "His sword just broke! He's retreating, toward us!" Naruto emerged through the foliage, groaning in pain. "Naruto-kun!"

"Hina... AH!" the black mark on his neck began glowing a fiery orange, and he collapsed, but Hinata caught him and landed on the ground. The Kusa Genin appeared, smirking, but suddenly vanished, and both Genin still conscious let out a breath they hadn't known they were holding. "Naruto-kun..." Hinata touched the glowing mark on his neck, and burnt her fingers. She yelped and pulled her hand back. "What... is this...?"

She gasped as her Byakugan caught sight of a blade flying toward Kiba's back. "Kiba, look out!" she screamed, and the flame-clad Genin leaned to the side, dodging Kusanagi's strike at the back of his head, but barely. Orochimaru leapt away again, and landed fifteen feet away, then reached up with his free left hand and peeled off his stolen face.

"Hm..." the revealed Sannin hummed, "I wonder. Should I bother killing you two, or allow Naruto-chan to develop those Rinnegan eyes before I harvest them? I suppose it would be little trouble for me to unlock the Paths that still elude him, but if he were to to do it himself... hm..."

Hinata's eyes narrowed, and she threw herself at Orochimaru, aiming a Gentle Fist strike at his heart. The Sannin caught her wrist, and sneered, "Oh, come now. Surely you know who I am by now?" He flicked out his tongue like a snake, and it brushed her cheek lightly. She flinched, but never took her Byakugan eyes off of Orochimaru. "Surely I'm no ordinary Kusa Genin. I am Orochimaru of the Sannin, the strongest of the three, in fact."

"What did you do to Naruto?" Hinata asked with a scowl.

"Oh, good question, if a little predictable. I injected him with a portion of my own chakra combined with natural energy harvested with senjutsu. Said energy has now coalesced into a juinjutsu on his neck, that will activate when he next feels rage or desperation. Now, he's not the sort to become addicted to my power, but I can use my Cursed Seal to break his will when I decide to come for his eyes."

Orochimaru gave an exaggerated sigh, and mused, "Oh, well. There are more pressing matters to deal with than this. Harvesting your friend's eyes can wait, while intercepting Sasuke Uchiha cannot, and I suppose I'd have enough time to kill you two, but why bother?" Hinata tried to pull away, but the snake's grip was too strong. "Perhaps I might even return to take your eyes at some point. Imagine, if I could find some way to implant all three Great Doujutsu into myself." he laughed.

Without warning, Orochimaru vanished, and Hinata fell forward. She scrambled back to her feet, and approached Naruto, who was still unconscious. With her active Byakugan, she could see his pale blue chakra network being flooded by deep purple, foreign chakra, along with a single tenketsu point, just above his navel, that glistened bright orange.

X

_I just don't understand._

Gaara's emotionless mask cracked once again into a frown of utter confusion, and he was grateful his back was to Kankurou and Temari. His arms were folded over his chest, even as he led his team flying through the trees. A whip of his Sand Shield knocked aside a branch that might have scratched his cheek. _What makes him do this? That boy with the silver hair was a complete stranger, but Uzumaki saved him, and then decided not to harm his attacker. The difference in power was obvious, all three of those Sound Genin would have been mincemeat. So why? Why not kill them, to prove his existence?_

Gaara's head twitched to the side as he heard a familiar voice roaring, "I! WILL! KILL! YOU!" The clang of two blades smashing together echoed after each word.

"Ah. So you're not entirely without bloodlust, Naruto Uzumaki." Gaara stopped leaping through the trees. _Mother, I want to see this... _he turned, confusing his brother and sister, but they followed him to the battle between Naruto and a Kusa Genin wielding a jian. They crouched in a tree, out of sight.

"That Genin wasn't carrying a sword when we saw him in the first test," Kankurou observed.

"And Naruto wasn't wearing stealth gear," Temari countered. "Storage seals would be my first guess. The Uzumaki Clan were always good at fuinjutsu," she recalled.

_Fuinjutsu... _Gaara nodded thoughtfully. He glimpsed the fury in Naruto's eyes, and whispered, "His existence will not end here. He is strong enough to survive this."

The other two Sand Siblings turned to look at the eldest son of the Kazekage, their eyes wide with surprise. "Gaara?" Kankurou queried. _Gaara's actually... praising this kid?_

"Be quiet," Gaara growled, but without any real menace. His eyes and attention were locked on the battle. "I want to see this." The Genin bit Naruto's neck, and the blond shinobi retreated. Gaara leaned forward with interest. _His hatred has wavered_. _But why was he so angry in the first place? _Naruto aimed a few more strikes at the other Genin, but when his sword snapped in two, he turned and ran completely."Follow me," Gaara added, and jumped through the trees in pursuit of Naruto. He saw Orochimaru follow the faltering Uzumaki heir, and after a few moments, Naruto's teammates arrived, and the girl caught him as he passed out.

"Gaara," Temari began hesitantly, "Do you want to step in?" Again to her shock, Gaara didn't immediately answer _no_.

"...Not yet," he sighed. "I want to see how these two will handle this." Gaara watched as the black-haired girl with no pupils lunged at the Kusa Genin, who caught her strike. Temari winced as he licked Hinata's cheek.

Gaara leaned forward to listen. "...no ordinary Kusa Genin. I am Orochimaru of the Sannin, the strongest of the three, in fact." His eyes widened. _Orochimaru... an S-rank missing-nin... _

"What did you do to Naruto?" The black-haired girl growled.

"Oh, good question, if a little predictable. I injected him with a portion of my own chakra combined with natural energy harvested with senjutsu. Said energy has now coalesced into a juinjutsu on his neck, that will activate when he next feels rage or desperation. Now, he's not the sort to become addicted to my power, but I can use my Cursed Seal to break his will when I decide to come for his eyes."

Gaara blinked. _Orochimaru seeks Uzumaki's Rinnegan?_

Orochimaru sighed, and continued, "Oh, well. There are more pressing matters to deal with than this. Harvesting your friend's eyes can wait, while intercepting Sasuke Uchiha cannot, and I suppose I'd have enough time to kill you two, but why bother? Perhaps I might even return to take your eyes at some point. Imagine, if I could find some way to implant all three Great Doujutsu into myself."

Orochimaru's sadistic laugh echoed as it reached Gaara's ears. _He wants the Rinnegan from Naruto Uzumaki, and the Sharingan as well, from Sasuke Uchiha... both of whom I have deemed worth killing. And this girl's white eyes, then, are the Byakugan, the third of the Great Doujutsu. _Orochimaru disappeared, and Gaara's eyes widened. "What? He left... why? Why does no one choose to kill their opponents?" he asked, frustrated, but jumped down out of the tree. Kankurou and Temari followed, perplexed by Gaara's actions.

Hinata turned and saw Gaara approach, from where she knelt over Naruto's limp form. "G-Gaara?" she remembered his name from Naruto's first attempt to talk with him. "What are you doing here?"

"Can you heal Naruto Uzumaki?" Gaara demanded. "Can you remove the curse from his neck?"

Hinata shook her head. "From what Orochimaru said, it sounds like it won't hurt him unless they fight again, but... I don't know fuinjutsu, so I can't say for sure, and I doubt I can remove it."

"Try," he commanded. "he must not fail this test, he swore to battle me." After a moment's consideration, Gaara produced an Earth Scroll from his pocket, and tossed it at Hinata's feet. He turned to Kiba. "You. You're more powerful than most Genin in this forest. Still weak, but not _as_ weak. Guard these two. I and my team will follow Orochimaru."

"We'll do _what_!?" Kankurou shouted in disbelief. Gaara turned and glared at him wordlessly. "...but why?" he asked desperately.

"Orochimaru created that juinjutsu," Gaara replied, and pointed to Naruto's neck. "He alone knows how to remove it."

"So you're telling me we're gonna capture an S-rank criminal alive, bring him back here, and force him to remove this seal?" Temari questioned. "Gaara, I'm sorry, but that's just crazy. We're Genin."

Gaara locked eyes with his sister, who flinched in expectation of his killing intent, but he didn't use it. "I'm the Jinchuuriki of the One-Tails. I have its power at my disposal, and Orochimaru is still an ordinary man. You two will merely serve as distractions to him."

Temari took a deep breath. "Gaara. Please, we can't beat Orochimaru. That would be like fighting our father."

"I fully intend to kill the Kazekage," Gaara said simply. "Now follow me, Temari, Kankurou. Orochimaru is getting away."

Kankurou gulped, but nodded, and Temari forced herself to do the same. Once they resumed flying through the trees, Kankurou whispered, "Gaara's finally lost it completely."

"I think you're right, but..." Temari shrugged, then ducked a branch that might have whipped her in the face. "If that's true, why does he seem _less _likely to kill us than he did this morning?"

Kankurou gave a nervous, quiet chuckle. "A miracle, I guess."

Gaara picked up his speed, and cut off the Sannin who was walking on the ground without concern. He appeared in Orochimaru's path, and his gourd dissolved into a mass of sand that writhed viciously at his feet. "And who are you?" Orochimaru asked, amused. "Oh, hold on, I recognize you. Gaara, the son of the Kazekage and Jinchuuriki of Shukaku, yes?"

Gaara made no response, but his sand floated forward, a bit closer to Orochimaru. "Remove the Cursed Seal from Naruto Uzumaki's neck," Gaara rasped, but if he was angry, it wasn't detectable at all.

"And if I don't?" Orochimaru sneered.

"I will kill you," Gaara echoed Naruto's threat. "That should be sufficient to destroy your juinjutsu, but I want to spare you, if only to find out why no one kills their opponents here. Is there some kind of gratification to be earned through mercy? Does it reinforce the value of my existence, more than simply killing? Or are they simply too weak to finish their victims? I want to know."

X

_Kurama's nine tails lashed angrily at the floor and bars of his cage. The serene valley Naruto had created was gone, replaced by a barren cave of earth and stone, dimly light by torches that had appeared in random places throughout Naruto's corrupted subconscious. The walls dripped a purplish-black liquid that Kurama recognized as chakra. _

_Naruto appeared two feet above the floor of the cavern, and hit the ground hard enough to jolt him back into awareness. He looked around. "What...? What happened in here?"_

_"This is the work of that snake's senjutsu chakra," the mighty demon growled. "He has injected you... us, with a vast supply of natural energy carrying his consciousness and intent. Through that seal, he can supress your will and flood your chakra network with his own power, rendering us helpless. But we can fight it, in here."_

_"Natural energy..." Naruto repeated. "That must be what Hinata and I are seeing. The chakra of the world around us."_

_"Focus, Naruto," the Demon Fox commanded. "If we're to break the seal, we must eliminate all of this senjutsu chakra. His power should manifest in this world, in a form we can kill."_

_"And can it kill us too?"_

_Kurama paused. "...I don't know. I don't want to know."_

_The black liquid flowing down the walls began to surge and pour faster, and gathered in pools at the base of the walls. Tendrils of unwelcome chakra connected all of the pools into a single point in front of Naruto, where the liquid took a human shape and color scheme. Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized the Sannin._

_"O-Orochimaru! What the hell are you doing, taking a Chuunin Exam in disguise?"_

_"Ah, so you've heard of me..." Orochimaru regurgitated his sword again, and took a defensive stance. "I'm here for your Rinnegan, and Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan."_

_Naruto reached for his own sword, but the scabbard on his back was empty. He sighed, and lowered his right hand back to join his left in a hand seal. "How many limits do I have in the real world, that didn't follow me here?" he wondered aloud. Kurama whipped his tails at the bars of his cage, unable to reach the battle that was about to begin. Naruto glanced back over his shoulder, and promised the Nine-Tails, "If I can't take him alone, I'll open that cage for you." Kurama's eyes widened, and Naruto added, "I'll have to trust you not to step on my village and kill my friends once you get out."_

_Orochimaru grimaced at the thought of fighting the Nine-Tails Demon Fox alone, both in Naruto's subconscious, and in the real world once his senjutsu avatar was inevitably destroyed. He leapt at Naruto with Kusanagi aimed to impale his foe, but Naruto turned back in time to see him approach._

X

Kiba's fire aura flared brighter, an attempt to intimidate the six Genin surrounding him, Hinata, and an unconscious Naruto. "Back off," he growled through a partially transformed throat. Baskerville was only one of the levels to his Hellhound Mode, but he'd end up burning down the forest if he wasn't careful. Each transformation brought him closer to Akamaru's mind and further from his own, and if he wasn't careful, he'd end up forgetting the concept of a forest fire.

Three Genin wearing white jumpsuits, sashes over their faces with holes for their eyes, and metal masks which appeared to help their breathing, eyed the Earth Scroll at Hinata's feet.

The other three were dressed in green. Two wore green and white jumpsuits and straw hats, but the third, the apparent leader of the team, wore a dark green trenchcoat, a blue and white jumpsuit, and no hat. "Oboro, looks like this one's yours," the boy in the trenchcoat noted, pointing to the Earth Scroll at Hinata's feet. She stood, having been crouching over Naruto, but in a cruel twist of fate, the Heaven Scroll in her weapons pouch fell, joining the Earth Scroll at her feet. The boy in the trenchcoat leaned forward. "Ah... scratch that. Two on six." The one named Oboro nodded.

Hinata glanced down at the scroll; this was the first time in her life anything had fallen out of her pouch. "Kiba, maybe we should just give them the scrolls," she noted sadly.

"No freakin' way. We can get Naruto to that tower, and then they'll let us out if we have both scrolls. We can get him to a medic-nin." Kiba clasped his hands together in the Tiger hand seal.

Hinata's Byakugan activated silently, and she settled into a Gentle Fist stance. "You're right," she immediately agreed, then addressed the six Genin opposing them. "I'll try not to kill you, but Gentle Fist strikes tend to damage the organs, even if I strike you on a weaker tenketsu like one on your wrist. I won't hesitate, so please just turn and go."

The one in the trenchcoat laughed. "How old are you? Ten?"

"I'm twelve," Hinata replied, and almost smirked, but not quite. "And I don't like your tone. How old are you?" she countered. "Nineteen? So you either failed the Genin Exam, or this one, for seven straight years, maybe more. Which was it?"

Shigure flinched at how accurate her guesses had been. "I'm gonna kill you," he growled, "You little bitch."

Kiba's fire armor intensified, and he growled like the animal he was proud to be. Hinata didn't move, didn't breathe or blink, she simply maintained her taijutsu stance and prepared herself for the attack she knew was coming.

The other six Genin began making hand seals.

**Please Review!**


	10. Cursed Seals and Snakes

_Thanks to akatsukicolin, Ayrmed, Musical cake, Lyanah, Steam Powered Crow, Sinister Bowser, Canon's Son, schnookums, MoRGzY1, *TL,* and *CuriousReader* for reviewing. _

_akatsukicolin: yep. That's the most crucial part of his plan, ya know._

_Ayrmed: Thank you very much, glad to hear you feel that way._

_Musical cake: Which one? Hellsing or Holmes?_

_Lyanah: Narutopedia. Tumblr. FANFICTION DOT NET! Um... that particular version of the Sexy Jutsu is a mental image that will haunt me forever. I'm not quite sure at this point what to do with Kurama; but Naruto's definitely headed somewhere good with this. Of course Hinata and Kiba deserve a battle all to themselves, they're badasses in their own right and characters no less important than Naruto._

_Steam Powered Crow: That's a pretty cool idea, but I'm afraid not._

_Sinister Bowser: I'm ashamed I haven't already mentioned this: Team Seven is Sasuke, Sakura and Lee under Kakashi. Team Eight is, obviously, Naruto, Hinata and Kiba under Asuma. Team Nine is Ino-Shika-Chou under Kurenai. Team Ten is Neji, Tenten and Shino under Gai. I'm aware that Team Gai in canon graduated a year before the Rookie Nine, but I changed that in this fic. _

_Canon's Son: Thank all four of you. _

_schnookums: Oh yes, the third test is going to be damn fun to write._

_MoRGZy1: Third wheel? Not for long... I have something planned for the third test, which I don't think anyone's done before._

_*TL:* Yeah, Orochimaru could take out Gaara without much of a problem, but Gaara can unleash a Tailed Beast simply by knocking himself out. That's more of a fair fight._

_*CuriousReader:* I hadn't really thought about that. Everyone, this keen-eyed guest here asked whether it was Naruto or Hinata that killed a Demon Brother. Since Naruto had very slightly more experience than Hinata with the Hiraishin kunai, and the surviving brother aimed himself at Naruto and not Hinata, I'd have to say it was Naruto who killed the other one. Thank you, curious reader, for your good question and high praise. _

X

Naruto sidestepped Orochimaru's jian, which would have otherwise pierced his heart. "I get it now," he declared, using what appeared to be his Asura Path to form a silver cutlass. "Back when the Sannin were a team, you focused on ninjutsu. You wanted to learn every ninjutsu in the world."

"Correct," Orochimaru replied, but frowned when Naruto easily parried his next attack.

"So you never studied taijutsu, did you? You thought it was a waste of precious time, that you could better spend learning another ninjutsu or two. Instead, you picked up this sword." Naruto slapped his blade against the Sannin's, and dodged a futile lunge. "And you never learned proper swordplay either. You just decided, like I did, that you could use a sword to scare away taijutsu users. You're fast, I'll admit that, but I actually _learned_ kenjutsu. That's why you haven't killed me already, and why I'll probably beat you this time."

"Ah, but I'm not limited to kenjutsu," Orochimaru replied, and leapt into the air away from Naruto, dropping his sword mid-jump so he could form hand seals.

"Shinra Tensei!" Naruto shouted, and aimed his left palm at Orochimaru, who froze in midair. "Or at least, that's what it feels like, right? The Deva Path of the Rinnegan has limited control over gravity." Orochimaru scowled down at Naruto, confused. "Gravity can be defined as the attractive force created by two masses; anything with mass can exert gravity," he quoted one of Iruka's lessons, and added, "But can chakra exert that force? Does chakra, or a thought, have mass?"

"What are you getting at, boy?" Orochimaru spat.

"There's no gravity in here," Naruto replied simply. "Because there _is_ no here. You're in my mind, in my thoughts, and in here, I have total control over reality. Here's the proof: I'm not using my Rinnegan yet." he held up his new cutlass, which dissolved into silver flakes that then disappeared completely. "You're held in place there by my thoughts, not gravity. Still..." Naruto paused, and grinned, "I've been wanting to try this really cool ninjutsu that I just don't have the chakra for in the real world. It's called 'Chibaku Tensei.'"

Orochimaru's eyes widened, and he resumed making hand seals so quickly his hands blurred together. "Sage Art: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" A serpent ten times the size of Hinata's creation leapt forth from Orochimaru's hands, enhanced by the natural energy he could only unleash through a Cursed Seal.

"Hah!" Naruto swung his right palm forward to face the dragon, and a pulse of barely-visible energy, like a heat wave, rippled forth from his hand and obliterated the water dragon. He snarled, and shoved his left hand forward as well. Another wave of force struck Orochimaru, but all he could do was wince where he floated as it struck. Naruto clasped both of his outstretched hands together, and brought them back to his chest. He breathed in deeply, then let the breath back out as a loud sigh, and pulled his hands apart.

Within them, a marble-sized ball of pitch-blackness floated innocently, and Naruto smirked down at it excitedly. "Chibaku Tensei!"

Kurama bared his teeth in a proud grin. "I suppose I could do worse for a host after all," he noted. _The jutsu that the Sage used to create the moon... Even if you don't have enough chakra to use it in reality, the fact that you know it is surprising enough. Let's see how you wield it, boy. _

Naruto roared, and threw the singularity forward. The black sphere struck Orochimaru's chest and stuck there. Almost immediately, the walls of the cavern began to creak and groan. The ball of false gravity tore at them until they shattered, and their pieces flew together, slamming one by one into Orochimaru. Naruto, meanwhile, was using his thoughts more directly, willing indestructible chains into existence that tethered him to Kurama's cage, and said cage to the ground. Once Orochimaru was completely entombed in a sphere of stone the size of a fully unleashed Bijuu, Naruto applied his omnipotence to their surroundings, replacing the dim cavern with a brightly sunlit field of grass under a thin layer of snow.

"That should startle him, when he gets out," Naruto announced, and squinted at the light.

"He survived that?" Kurama asked, mildly surprised.

"That's not a real human being," the human pointed out to the walking ocean of chakra. "It's just a chunk of chakra that looks like Orochimaru. To destroy it, I can damage it directly, but that thing doesn't have a heart, a brain, or a spine." _Burn_. "I have to hit it until it just dissolves. Or, I can let it use ninjutsu until it burns itself out. I wish I could just tear him into little bits with my mind, but it looks like that won't work for some reason." he shrugged. "At least I get to beat the tar out of him for threatening Hina-chan."

"Likely the Cursed Seal. It gives him some limited measure of control over your mind." Kurama paused. "Would you really free me? If it meant winning this battle?"

"Kurama-san," Naruto replied sadly, " I hope I get to release you one day, but I don't want it to be like this. I want to let you back into a world you can appreciate and love." The Bijuu snorted. "No, really, believe it. You'll enjoy the world more if you don't hate humans, and I wanna make it so they don't hate you either."

"Stick to the Hokage obsession. It's a vastly more realistic goal."

"They're not all an angry mob out for our blood, you know. Remind me to find some way to introduce you to Hina-chan, and Kiba, and Asuma-sensei, Iruka-sensei and even Hokage-sama."

Kurama laughed, genuinely amused. "I suspect all but your little girlfriend would flee, or attack me."

"Then we'll start with Hinata. She'll be nice to you, believe it." Naruto would have said more, but the sound of cracking stone drew his attention. A shining bronze snake's head, ten feet long, burst through the surface of the artificial planet, and opened its mouth, revealing Orochimaru who winced at the unexpected bright light around him. "Cool. I didn't know you could use summons inside my mind."

Orochimaru smirked. "It's as you say. Neither this world, nor anything in it, truly exists. Hence I imagined one of my familiars into existence, but this is no more than an image under my control."

"Okay... and how much of your chakra did that take?" Naruto countered with a smug grin.

Orochimaru grimaced. "More than I would have liked," he admitted. "Influencing your thoughts to my advantage is no easy task, and it drains the energy in the Cursed Seal, which is to say me." The miniature planet behind him vanished into thin air, and he glanced back over his shoulder at the dull sound of it warping into nothingness.

When he turned back, he jumped away, startled. Naruto had been standing right in front of him, and the far younger shinobi noted, "Good thing I don't have that weakness, or this fight might've come close to fair."

"Cocky little brat, I can't wait to rip your eyes out," Orochimaru replied. "Ahh, I'm getting chills already. Perhaps I'll do it while you're still alive to scream, hm?" he grinned, and licked his lips, then held out his hand and beckoned with a single finger for Kusanagi to return. The jian shot hilt-first at him, and landed comfortably in his hand. The Sannin grinned evilly, and pointed the tip of his blade at Naruto.

Naruto willed another cutlass into existence, and folded his left arm behind his back. His left foot extended forward and his right slid backward slightly, and he held his cutlass in front of himself, relaxed. Orochimaru waved his sword lazily, directing the bronze serpent to attack, and it lunged at Naruto. The Genin, however, simply slashed it in half, snout to tail, with a crescent of shimmering blue light that extended from the tip of his cutlass and shot through the snake. The two halves of the beast fell in a shower of blood, then vanished from Naruto's subconscious without a trace. "Getsuga Tenshou," Naruto named the attack after its blue light faded.

"Another Rinnegan jutsu?" Orochimaru asked, impressed.

"Nope," Naruto replied with a grin. "Just a manga reference I've always wanted to use."

"Hm. Kids these days," Orochimaru noted sadly, shaking his head slightly, then charged forward with his sword raised.

Naruto let go of his sword, willing it to float in midair while he crafted hand seals. "Wind Release: Wind Scar!" Orochimaru swung his blade skyward, shattering the fragile blades generated by the C-rank ninjutsu. "Air Bullet!" Naruto continued without a pause. The second, B-rank attack forced Orochimaru to dodge. "Drilling Air Bullet!" The third jutsu, the signature A-rank technique of the One-Tailed Shukaku, was too fast to dodge, so Orochimaru simply caught the swirling ball of wind on his sword. In reality this would have killed him, but Orochimaru poured his chakra into influencing Naruto's thoughts enough that the jutsu split in two and sailed past the Sannin.

Orochimaru resumed his approach, but stopped after a moment. "...Wait. You don't look drained at all, not even after using Chibaku Tensei, and those Wind jutsu. Why not?"

"I'm not really using ninjutsu," Naruto admitted with a shrug, and plucked his sword out of the air. "I'm just imagining these attacks, and they happen. I'd love to start throwing lava at you, but since that's an image I'm less familiar with, it might drain my chakra or move slower than a Wind Release jutsu. That Getsuga Tenshou I used did both."

"So, I can't possibly overpower you," Orochimaru realized.

Naruto nodded. "But I've had my fun now." He stepped backward a few paces, passing through the bars of Kurama's cage. He sheathed the silver sword he'd imagined into existence, and slapped his hands together in a short sequence of hand seals. "Your turn, Kurama-san. Substitution Jutsu!"

X

Meanwhile, the real Orochimaru considered summoning the real Kusanagi. Despite the Sannin unleashing the full extent of his killing intent, Gaara hadn't budged, and in fact seemed mildly angered. "...I'll ask it of you once more," the crimson-haired boy rasped. "Remove the Cursed Seal, this is your last chance. The concept of mercy no longer amuses me."

Orochimaru smirked, and stated proudly, "I dissected the last foe who tried to bluff me like this."

Gaara said nothing and remained immobile, but the sand around him rose up in a massive wave. Orochimaru watched the surge close in, still smirking. Gaara's line of sight was briefly obstructed by his own attack, and Orochimaru chose that moment to deploy the Body Flicker and reappear behind the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. He lashed out with Kusanagi at the back of Gaara's neck, but a tendril of glistening tan sand caught the blade.

"Eight far better swordsmen than you have tried that," Gaara growled without turning to face Orochimaru. "Of those eight, four were ANBU assassins. I killed them all." he held up his right hand, and clenched it into a fist where Orochimaru could see. "Sand Coffin."

A lesser weapon would have been ground into dust, but Kusanagi was indestructible, and instead it was merely swallowed by the sand and torn from Orochimaru's grasp. The snake Sannin retreated with another Body Flicker, and Gaara turned to face him. Orochimaru tried to summon Kusanagi to his hand, but the weapon remained buried in Gaara's sand. He scowled, and dodged another stream of sand that obliterated the branch he'd been perched on.

Gaara turned, and his grin was horrifying enough to even startle Orochimaru. "We've been getting ahead of ourselves, haven't we, mother?" he swung his left arm wildly, and a flow of sand traced a larger version of the same arc, slamming violently into Orochimaru. "Here we are fighting a powerful opponent, and I concern myself with a seal on _someone else's _neck? I should just revel in the proof of my existence, shouldn't I, mother?"

_He must be talking to the spirit of the One-Tails, _Orochimaru observed. _It looks as though he's about to draw on its power. I'm certain I could handle even that, but there's still the matter of marking Sasuke Uchiha with my Cursed Seal. And if I face Gaara in his Tailed Beast Mode, I'll end up killing him. That's no good for the attack plan. _"Gaara no Sabaku, I'll admit this was an amusing little encounter, but I have business elsewhere. Goodbye."

"You're not going anywhere!" Gaara howled, and latched two tentacles of sand around the Sannin's ankles. Orochimaru opened his mouth, and an identical copy of his head emerged from within. Dripping a pale green liquid, Orochimaru emerged completely, like a snake shedding its skin, and disappeared into the forest.

Gaara roared and seethed, but Shukaku's influence receded without any prey in the Bijuu's sight. The Jinchuuriki growled in frustration as he was reminded of Naruto's plight. After a moment's consideration, he followed Orochimaru.

Hidden in the tree leaves above, Kankurou sighed, and leapt away in pursuit of his younger brother. Temari followed, frowning.

X

A kunai flew toward the back of Hinata's head, and she leaned out of the way with a fluid, lightning-fast motion. Her Byakugan continued to track the blade as it passed her, and stabbed into the belly of one of the white-clad Genin, revealing him to be an illusion when he dissolved into white fog. This surprised neither Hinata nor Kiba; Kiba's sense of smell warned him, and Hinata's doujutsu showed her that the boy was simply a cloud of chakra without a chakra network or tenketsu.

Kiba turned to face the direction the kunai had been thrown from, and caught sight of one of the green-clad Genin from the other team, who blanched. Kiba moved faster than a normal eye could see, and Hinata's doujutsu could barely keep up. He arrived in front of the Genin and punched him in the jaw, leaving a burn and a fracture on the now-unconscious boy. "That's just sad. A normal Genin would be able to dodge that attack, I even pulled my punch, and he's still out cold." The half-canine Genin turned to face the oldest boy present, the one wearing the green trenchcoat. "I can smell the fear on the other guy," Kiba nodded to the boy at Shigure's side.

He continued, "I'm guessing you just bullied these two into coming with you as a three-man team. They must've known, with this kind of skill, they wouldn't make Chuunin, but in order to get into the exam you need a full team, and you thought _you_ could pass the exam, right? That's low. I'll make you a deal though. Fight me one on one, and your sidekick there can sit it out."

"What about your teammate?" Shigure questioned as his partner fled. "She's up against three Genin from Ame, and I grew up with them. I can tell you right now they're strong."

"Pfft. Hinata's gonna destroy 'em," Kiba replied simply.

"That's right, don't worry about me," Hinata called, then addressed the apparent army of white-clad Genin. "My Byakugan can see through your clones, and since they have no chakra network I can tell them apart from the real three of you." she pointed to each of the real shinobi hidden amongst the clones. "It's not a genjutsu, like the basic Clone Jutsu, but they're still harmless, that much I can see. So what are they made from?"

"This is the Fog Clone Jutsu," one of the clones admitted. "Ideal for use in Ame, where it's always rainy and miserable." Then the army of clones fell apart into a cloud of mist, which wasn't thick enough to interfere with either side's vision. "It's our favorite jutsu," one of the real three added, "but it's not our only weapon. We'll still beat you."

"So," Shigure asked Kiba, "What are you, anyway? A Jinchuuriki?"

Kiba glanced down at the form he shared with Akamaru. "It does look that way, doesn't it? This is the first time I've used it in a real fight, and I gotta say it's pretty cool." he looked back up at Shigure, who was drawing one of his four umbrellas from the holsters sewn into his trenchcoat. "An umbrella?" Kiba questioned, confused. "I expected some kind of sword. What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Shigure smirked, and Kiba bared his teeth in a growl. "On second thought, I don't wanna know." He lunged at the Ame Genin, who swatted Kiba's first punch aside with his umbrella. Kiba followed up with four more punches, the last three of which struck their target, both burning and bludgeoning Shigure's chest.

The Ame Genin kicked himself off the ground violently, vaulting into the air away from Kiba. He unfurled his umbrella and tossed it into the air, where it floated and began to spin, firing senbon needles randomly in all directions. Kiba scowled, noticing Shigure draw a second umbrella to hide under. He made a few hand seals, then aimed his open palms at the umbrella and the senbon pouring out of it. "Fire Release: Hellhound Barrier!"

The flames cloaking Kiba's half-dog form abandoned him, and intercepted the rain of senbon as a horizontal wall of red fire that melted the steel needles and caught the molten metal. Another hand seal twisted the wall in midair, pouring the droplets of metal harmlessly into the dirt. The flames returned to Kiba's skin, and he cracked his knuckles. "You've got three more of those," he noted as the umbrella, now emptied of senbon, landed between the two Genin. "Then what?"

Shigure scowled and folded the umbrella in his right hand, then swung it, unleashing a cluster of needles from its tip. Kiba dodged; even through his flames were hot enough to melt such weapons, they'd still pierce through his cloak before they melted. _If his weapons are all like this, I could use the second level of Hellhound Mode. Its cloak is strong enough to melt kunai on contact, and senbon won't stand a chance, but... I want to beat him with only the first level. This power is supposed to be my main jutsu, and if I need to go so far as using Level Two on this chump..._

"Two Palms!" Hinata called, and set to work dismantling a white-clad Genin's tenketsu. "Four Palms! Eight Palms!" she dodged a feeble punch from the boy, and doubled her speed again, frowning with concentration. "Sixteen Palms!" she continued, and finished with an ordinary kick to the boy's sternum. He fell, and she turned to face one of his two allies. "You can choose to leave at any time," she noted. "We have nothing to gain from hurting or chasing you. Just go," she implored.

"Kagari's a tough kid," one of his teammates noted. "He'll be fine, and he wouldn't want us to give up."

"Actually," Hinata replied in an apologetic tone, "I just shut down sixteen of Kagari's core tenketsu, which connect to the heart, liver and lungs. In two minutes, his breathing will falter, in three, it'll stop altogether," she admitted with concern in her voice. "His liver will stop filtering toxins out of his blood, and his heart will stop completely in under five minutes. I can reactivate those tenketsu easily and stop that damage, but only if you surrender."

Kiba dodged another set of needles, and drew a kunai from his weapons pouch. The cloth wrapped around its hilt burned away at his touch, and the metal glistened bright orange from the heat. There was a fuinjutsu on his clothing that prevented it from turning to ash, and kept the heat out of his weapons pouch, but once a kunai was drawn it had no protection from the flames. He threw the superheated kunai, which Shigure took to be a serious threat, and dodged.

_What the hell was that? _Shigure watched the glowing kunai pass him. He turned back to face Kiba, and jumped when he saw the boy already making hand seals. "Fire Release: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Shigure tossed aside his umbrella, and drew a third one from his back, this one larger and reinforced with iron plates for use as a shield. He crouching behind it and winced as the flames washed over his shelter, then sighed in relief when they passed.

Shigure looked up, and saw two dozen small fireballs change their path after passing by his shield. "Damn it!" he rolled frantically out of the way, and the Phoenix Flowers slammed into the dirt where he'd been crouching. He scrambled to his feet, reaching for his fourth and final umbrella, but Kiba was already sprinting toward him on all fours, and the fire-clad Genin tackled him. Kiba's aura of flames winked out, just before his knockout punch struck Shigure's jaw.

Hinata's Byakugan showed her the entire exchange, and she nodded to where Kiba stood over Shigure. "It's two on two, now," she noted. "If you surrender, I'll reopen your friend's chakra network, and let you leave."

"Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Hinata saw Oboro's attack coming from behind her even as it was formed, and she spun to face it while her fingers slipped in and out of rapid hand seals. "Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!" she countered the attack in kind, and the two spheres of compressed water slammed together, exploding into a harmless mist that sprayed the trees and all eight Genin, conscious or otherwise. "Stop it!" she shouted. "Just calm down and think for a second. I'm being fair about this, I really am! I won't even take your scroll; you can all go and fight some other team with minimal injuries. You haven't even used that many jutsu; you're not badly drained." her voice hardened then. "But if you won't accept my offer, I'll knock you all unconscious, _take_ your scroll, and restore your chakra networks before I and my team leave."

The two remaining Ame Genin, without taking their eyes from Hinata, made their way to each other. Oboro's right hand began a sequence of seals with Mubi's left. Hinata's eyes widened, since she recognized the pattern. _That jutsu... they're melding their chakra together, since it takes too much for one ordinary Genin. _"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" they roared in sync, and a torrent of water burst from each boy's mouth, tearing off the voice-distorting masks they'd forgotten to remove. Hinata watched the attack approach her, knowing she wouldn't have enough time for hand seals to counter the attack, as she had with Oboro's Water Bullet.

The dragon approached her with red eyes that glowed with fury, and she realized exactly what jutsu she could use to counter it. She curled the fingers of her right hand like claws, and began swirling her chakra in a condensed ball in the palm of her hand. The pale blue energy glowed faintly, and gave off a humming sound to indicate the completion of the jutsu. "Rasengan!" she declared, and threw her armed right hand forward, meeting the dragon's snout head-on. The half-sentient ninjutsu roared in pain and fury, and pushed forward in an attempt to overpower the Rasengan. Hinata's feet dug into the softened ground, but that was all; it was too late to stop her. The Spiralling Sphere ripped the Water Dragon Bullet apart into dozens of splashes that soaked the entire area.

Hinata was left with a Rasengan in her palm, which was a significantly darker blue than before. A transparent teal bubble floated just past the surface of the sphere, quivering slightly from the swirling energy inside. She stared down at it, wide-eyed. Her chakra had absorbed the Water Release orientation from Oboro and Mubi perfectly, and she knew exactly what to do with it.

"Water Release: _Rasengan_!" Hinata declared, and lobbed the new jutsu at the space between Oboro and Mubi. It exploded on contact with the ground at their feet, generating twice as much water as the Water Dragon Bullet did, and throwing it in all directions. Oboro and Mubi were both carried into the air with the water, and slammed into the ground by gravity, knocking them both out.

X

Kurama grinned down at Orochimaru's avatar. The Demon Fox's eyes were alight with hate and sadistic anticipation. "I haven't killed in twelve years, did you know that?" he asked. "Yet another thing for which I must thank my gracious host."

Orochimaru turned to run, but the bars of the cage had been replaced by solid steel walls. The sole source of light was now the aura of fiery orange pouring off the Kyuubi. "Ah... you're not the real Orochimaru, but you can still feel an instinctual fear of death, as if you were human. That pleases me. I haven't heard a human scream since I was sealed in here. Twelve long years, as I just said. Now... scream."

The persona of the Cursed Seal turned, and looked up at the Tailed Beast Ball forming in front of Kurama's open jaws. It screamed.

X

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and the Cursed Seal on his neck exploded into a cloud of black mist. He threw himself to his feet and drew a Hiraishin kunai, just as the mist coalesced into a hissing white snake that floated in front of him, glaring at him with Orochimaru's hateful yellow eyes. With a roar, Naruto sliced his kunai through the near-helpless creature's neck, cutting off its head. Once again, it became a cloud of mist that scattered in all directions, returning the energy of nature whence it came.

Breathing heavily from the adrenaline, Naruto returned his kunai to his pouch. He touched the spot on his neck where he guessed the Cursed Seal had been, then looked around. He was still in the Forest of Death, amid a few particularly massive trees. The ground, covered in wild grass and flowers, was soaked and torn apart from an apparent battle.

Hinata came out of nowhere, and nearly tackled him with a hug. "Naruto-kun!" she greeted him gleefully. "You're all right!"

Kiba decided, after careful consideration including a thought of the fight he recently dominated, decided his best course of action was to deactivate his Hellhound Mode, help Akamaru back into his spot in Kiba's hoodie, and lean against a tree trying to look cool.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Naruto agreed, then looked around again. "What the heck happened, though?"

"You passed out," Hinata began her recap. "Gaara and his team showed up, gave us their scroll, and followed Orochimaru. Then two teams of Genin saw us with both scrolls, and fought us. I just finished healing them a moment ago; they're tied up over there." she pointed to a pile of five unconscious Genin. "Well... one of them ran away after Kiba punched out his partner, so there's five of them tied up, and we have two of each scroll now."

Naruto blinked, and glanced at Kiba, then back to Hinata. "...You fought six ninjas and won?" Hinata nodded. "And got three scrolls while I was knocked out?" She nodded again. "And... since you're the one who uses Water Release... it was you who did this?" he gestured around at the drenched forest, and she nodded a third time. Naruto paused, and scratched his head. "I... can't even think of any way to describe how awesome this is."

"Um... Naru-kun..." she played with her fingers again, blushing subtly. "Can I talk to you alone for a second?"

"Sure," he replied, and the two of them moved behind one of the absurdly huge trees nearby. Hinata glanced in Kiba's direction, making sure he couldn't see them, then jumped forward and kissed Naruto. His eyes widened; it was somewhat unusual for her to move to kiss him instead of the other way round. But after a moment, the surprise wore off, and he wrapped his arms around her. A few seconds later, she broke off the kiss, and breathed out a contented and relieved sigh.

"I told myself I'd do that the next chance I got," she admitted, blushing a deep scarlet. "When I saw that seal... The chakra in it..." she shivered. "I was worried, Naruto."

"It's all right, Hina-chan. I won't worry you like that again..."

"HEY!" Kiba yelled. "I can smell your pheromones, and hear every word you're whispering. Cut the lovey-dovey crap!"

Hinata's blush darkened, and she winced. Naruto just laughed, though, and after a few moments, she started giggling too, although she was still blushing dark red.

"Hey, Hina-chan, Kiba," Naruto began when they all stopped laughing, "If it's all right with you guys, I think we should give that extra set of scrolls to Gaara's team, if we find them."

Hinata nodded, still smiling. "They went out of their way to help us, we should pay them back. But... they're up against Orochimaru... what if they lose?"

X

Gaara scowled, and burst through the cover of the treetops with Orochimaru in his sight. Kankurou and Temari emerged flanking the Jinchuuriki, and Orochimaru looked up, releasing an unconscious Sasuke Uchiha, who already bore a Cursed Seal identical to Naruto's. Meanwhile, a girl with long pink hair was screaming in horror, and an unconscious boy in a green jumpsuit was pinned to a tree by several kunai.

Gaara had managed to fully calm himself down, and despite his mother's screams for the Sannin's blood, he observed the scene calmly. Orochimaru fled again, and while Gaara wanted nothing more than to follow the snake, he decided to do what he imagined Naruto might, and that meant confirming the other three Genin's conditions were stable before he continued.

In a soothing voice, his mother murmured, _Why aren't you chasing Orochimaru? Why bother with these weaklings, when you can simply go on and prove our existence?_

_I... I just can't help but feel that Naruto Uzumaki... might be right. Perhaps I can prove the value of my existence in more ways than blood and killing. That's not to say I won't kill him, and Orochimaru as well, but... maybe there's more to our life than this._

_No, _his mother replied sadly. _This is what we are. We kill, to live. To continue our existence, we must end that of our opponent. _This time, her sweet tone seemed somehow off, and it unnerved Gaara.

_Perhaps. But I will humor him, just for today. _Gaara made his way to Sakura, and spoke. The words tasted bad in his mouth, but he said them anyway: "...Are you and your... friends all right?"

"S-Sasuke...kun... he's hurt," she replied shakily.

"He'll live," Gaara intoned solemnly. "That mark on his neck won't kill him, and it should be gone soon... but are you..." he glanced up at the boy pinned against the tree with kunai. "...and this boy in green, are you both stable?"

"Lee's been cut by those kunai," she turned to look at the boy. "It doesn't look fatal though. I'll keep him safe."

"Good." Gaara blinked. _I wondered how Uzumaki could stand being this way, but the more I do it, the less it bothers me. Perhaps he's not as much a fool as I thought. _"I'll follow Orochimaru. When I kill him, that seal on Sasuke Uchiha's neck should fade away." he turned, and saw Kankurou and Temari staring at him, wide-eyed. "Come with me, Temari, Kankurou," he commanded, and leapt away in pursuit of the Sannin.

Meanwhile, word had reached Anko Mitarashi of Naruto's Cursed Seal, since the Forest of Death was lined with hidden cameras. She sprinted blindly into the Forest of Death, while night fell over her and the rest of Konoha.

**Please Review!**


	11. Genin vs Sannin!

_Thanks to Steam Powered Crow, Fritter, *Guest,* Ayrmed, Kingswriter, *dono-sec,* Musical cake, *Guest,* *TL,* Dragon Man 180, randumbdave, Zeromaru Chaos Mode thrice, HyuugaNeji45, Lyanah, SaiyanChik, and *Guest* for reviewing._

_Steam Powered Crow: Thanks. I figured if there was any force in the Narutoverse that could break a Cursed Seal, it'd be a Bijuu. _

_Fritter: Thanks, so do I._

_*Guest:* Okay, I fricken liked this one. Here's the entire review copied and pasted; make of it what you will:_

Okay, I jumped to the last chapter because I wanted to see where you are going with the premise before comitting to 50k words.  
Hell, this is a total mary sue wank shit!  
Seriously, they are fighting in the chuunin exam. And you got Rinnegan Naruto being in friendly terms with the fox and able to trap Orochimaru in a genjutsu AND using Hiraishin, and Hinata being able to do elemental rasengan?  
Seriously, thats just plain weak writing and total crap.

_(sic)_

_Ayrmed: Why, thank you._

_Kingswriter: Thank you as well._

_*dono-sec:* Ah... without shadow clones, that'd be a problem... I'm not really sure what he'd do; I'll have to think on that._

_Musical cake: Yeah, in Hellsing Ultimate it's revealed close to the end, that Alucard's dog familiar who ate Luke Valentine is named Baskerville._

_*Guest:* Ouch. I see your point, but ouch._

_*TL:* 'Fraid not. Naruto might be able to remove it down the road, but not in this arc._

_Dragon Man 180: Since it's natural energy, I'd say it was probably like a salad, with little bits of snake in there, fried quite nicely with a Tailed Beast Ball. And snake does taste somewhat like chicken, apparently. All of this wrapped up into a nice, crunchy, crispy-fried little bundle. _

_randumbdave: Thanks, that's exactly the level I've been trying to keep Naruto at._

_Zeromaru Chaos Mode: I don't have Microsoft Office on this laptop, and Windows 8's version of WordPad is pretty much Word 2003 which I'm really used to. Yes, Hinata has no objections to the Sexy Jutsu and helped design this story's version of it. I can't imagine why Kiba's shown as a jackass in so many stories I read._

_I think Naruto was rude to the Kyuubi in canon because they met under VERY BAD initial circumstances. Naruto had just been thrown off a fricken cliff and needed chakra or he was going to die; he didn't exactly have time to be polite._

_HyuugaNeji45: Thank you very much, good luck writing your first fanfiction. I uploaded mine when I was sixteen and it's gotten a total of three reviews in the years since. Back then, my writing sucked._

_Lyanah: Know Your Meme, YouTube... damn, I'm running out of death traps XD. If a stomach ache is all it takes to kill a Bijuu, remind me to feed Orochimaru, Kabuto and Zetsu to the Ten-Tails, if it actually shows up in this story. As for that idea for Kurama, I've been thinking about something similar for a while now, to show up in the conclusion of the Invasion of Konoha Arc. 'Suitengan' is actually a pretty cool name, Water-Heaven-Sphere, not bad. Kiba learning the Rasengan would be cool, but it just won't fit in with the fighting style I've been writing for him. And did you say 'Naruto's Rasenshuriken?' Consider 'Hinata's Rasenshuriken.' As for Kiba ruining the NaruHina fluff... well... let's just say I have a pairing planned for him too. That should shut him up. And yes, I'm already giddy at the thought of 100 reviews._

_SaiyanChik: *Sasori voice* Indeed, I don't like keeping people waiting. But why does everyone hate Sakura? Maybe it's something I haven't yet seen that happens in Shippuden, but I really just don't get it._

_*Guest:* Thank you, that was the intended result._

X

Anko was sprinting through the Forest of Death at her absolute top speed, using Substitution Jutsu to teleport whenever a suitable target like a log appeared on her path. She'd heard Jiraiya claiming his two Genin students had developed a Substitution that could be used on a thrown kunai as it flew, but according to him, it required a doujutsu to use properly. For all her skill as a Tokubetsu Jounin and Orochimaru's former student, she couldn't emulate that jutsu.

She'd been trying periodically, but she just couldn't focus her eyes properly on the kunai she'd decided to throw. A simple twitch of her gaze brought about by the blurring motion around herself and the kunai was all it took. The jutsu failed to find its target, and did nothing. On the plus side, a miss didn't take any of her precious chakra, which she would need every drop of if she meant to defeat Orochimaru.

After a few moments of thought, it occured to her that she could throw a shuriken at a tree limb, in such a way that it struck the top of the limb. Substituting with that would put her in a standing position on top of the targeted limb, and from there she could continue the chain of tree-leaping, drawing another shuriken, and Substituting again. It was, after all, one of the least chakra-draining ninjutsu a shinobi could use, which meant it wouldn't drain her reserves before she attacked Orochimaru.

The Snake Sannin's chakra was active, and he wasn't running anymore, which made it easier for Anko to track him, but she flinched at the thought of why he'd stop running. She'd passed Sasuke Uchiha and his team during her pursuit, and knew for a fact the boy already bore a Cursed Seal of Heaven identical to her own. There'd been no sign of Naruto Uzumaki, but she'd personally witnessed footage of Orochimaru marking him. So why, then, was Orochimaru not moving, but expending chakra?

These woods were full of Chuunin-level or lower Genin, and that just wasn't enough to warrant Orichimaru actually _fighting_. Two dozen fully-prepared Chuunin might keep a Sannin occupied for just under a minute, so who or what was he fighting here? And was it a threat to Anko? Was he holding back? Was he being careful, fighting a third student he planned to mark with his juinjutsu?

_Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. The Rinnegan and Sharingan. Alright, I get why he'd target those two. He wants to learn every ninjutsu, and those doujutsu will help him do it, but... what then? If he's after a third Genin, why? Last I checked, a human body has only two eye sockets, and if he wanted a Byakugan, wouldn't he have targeted Hinata Hyuuga right after he took out Naruto? Sure, Neji has it too, but why go to the trouble of tracking him down? Not to mention the Caged Bird Seal. Even he'd have trouble breaking through a seal like that._

Anko scowled, and drew another shuriken. _Maybe he knows I'm coming. He's just throwing out chakra to draw me in... Ah, screw it. I'm just gonna have to find out anyway; guessing won't do me any good._

X

Naruto and Hinata each drew a kunai, since Kiba was racing far ahead of them with his Hellhound Flame Armor. Akamaru wasn't currently merged with him, but the boost in strength and speed from his chakra cloak alone was enough that he outpaced his two teammates.

Naruto glanced down at the seal on the yellow hilt of his kunai, a beacon for use with his father's legendary Flying Thunder God Jutsu. Having finally begun learning the intricate art of fuinjutsu, Naruto was all the more amazed that his father had managed to write such a complex effect into such a small seal. Not for the first time, he thought silently, _space-time ninjutsu is awesome._

He threw his kunai, and Hinata did the same with her own, ordinary blade, both clasping their hands together in seals and declaring, "Substitution Jutsu!" _I wish I had've finished that jutsu I was working on before the exam started, _Naruto grumbled silently. _I miss my sword already, and it'd be a great weapon against Orochimaru, since I already know I can beat him with proper kenjutsu. I don't stand a chance with ninjutsu. But if I'd had that jutsu... It wouldn't be a problem at all..._

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata glanced over at him. "Is something wrong? You've been so quiet..."

"I'm okay, Hina-chan. I'm just thinking, that's all." he glanced up at the night sky through the trees. "Gaara might be fighting Orochimaru right now, trying to get rid of my Cursed Seal. He's got no idea I'm already healed, and he probably needs our help."

"It's a good thing we're headed right for him, then," Kiba observed ahead of them. "Hey, did I tell you guys I have a bridge named after me?"

"Huh?" Naruto replied without thinking.

"Yep. Tazuna's grandson Inari came up with the name; the Oukami Kiba Bridge. See, I told him about how humans are like wolves, and we have alpha males and submissive omegas and stuff. At the time, he didn't believe me, but according to his big speech when the bridge was done, he saw a ninja girl blow by him at 'like Mach Two' and came up with the idea that 'anyone can be an alpha wolf.'" Hinata blinked at that. "He told me later, that this happened maybe two minutes after I beat the crap out of two of Gatou's mooks right in front of him. He rallied the entire Land of Waves into an army and marched 'em to the bridge to fight Gatou."

Kiba chuckled, and added, "That much I actually saw. The kid had a crossbow, and now that I think about it, where the hell did he get a crossbow? So anyway, after Wave killed Gatou and his mercs with help from Zabuza and Haku, Tazuna finished the bridge, and Inari gave this huge speech about courage and how 'no one wolf can ever hope to conquer the rest of the pack.' Then he offered up his name for the bridge, and Wave liked it. Cool, huh?"

"Yeah, that is pretty cool," Naruto admitted. "So, what happened with Zabuza and Haku, anyway?"

"After they were done slaughtering Gatou's army, they left. They were both pretty beat up, I even stabbed Zabuza with a kunai, but Haku seemed okay, and we know he has some kind of medic-nin training since we met him looking for healing herbs. So I guess Haku would've been able to heal that stab wound, since Zabuza told me I hadn't struck his vitals..." Kiba sighed loudly. "Ah, forget it. They're missing-nin, and even if they're alive it's not like we'll be seeing them again."

The fire-wreathed young Genin sniffed audibly. "We're getting close. I can smell Gaara, and the sand in his gourd. It's a stronger scent, like it's outside of the gourd now... Does he use it for some kind of jutsu? They do call him Gaara of the Sand Waterfall..."

"He must be fighting Orochimaru," Naruto growled. "Gaara has his team with him, and if we get there in time we might be able to chase off Orochimaru together. Hinata, you've got a heavy advantage; he's weakest at close range. Use your Gentle Fist to disable his chakra network; neutralize his ninjutsu advantage. I'll shoot some Wind Release Jutsu at him, but Kiba, what'll you do?"

"I'm pretty good at taijutsu, and if I go deeper into Hellhound Mode, I can use this chakra cloak to stop blades. It kinda interferes with normal taijutsu, though. Anyway, I'll go mid-range and use fire jutsu."

"All right. So, how long can you maintain that Fire Release aura, anyway?"

"I'd say my limit's about fifteen minutes straight in Baskerville Mode, but that's not because I run out of chakra. Both the fire cloak and my fusion with Akamaru haven't been perfected yet, so I have to take breaks, or both parts of the jutsu just fail. Sometimes it knocks me out, other times I just turn back to normal. As for chakra drain, I'd say two fifteen-minute sessions with a five-minute break in between will drain me dry. But the second level halves that time; I might be able to keep it up for seven minutes."

"That's not too bad... if we can keep up with Orochimaru for seven minutes, there'll definitely be _someone _who picks up on his chakra signature. They'll send backup for us, or at least I hope so." Naruto readied a kunai for his next Substitution, and Hinata followed suit quickly. "If not, there's six of us, including two Jinchuuriki, and two Great Doujutsu users. I'm sure we'll at least be able to figure out a way to escape Orochimaru." he threw his kunai, formed a hand seal, and called, "Substitution Jutsu."

"Substitution Jutsu," Hinata repeated, and teleported ahead as he did. Both of them reappeared over open air, and had to land on a lower tree limb before jumping back up to Kiba's height. Naruto activated his Rinnegan and began sprinting on all fours as Kiba was doing. He gained a bit of speed from this, to his surprise, and Hinata pumped a bit of chakra into her legs to increase their strength and match his pace.

X

Gaara supressed the urge to aim a psychotic grin at Orochimaru, who had stopped running and was facing them. The tree all four shinobi were perched in was likely the biggest any of the three Sand Siblings had ever seen; its trunk was easily twenty feet thick if not more. The Sannin stood facing them, with his back to the trunk and his arms reasting passively at his sides. "Well, you three have followed me halfway across this forest, and it's beginning to annoy me," Orochimaru said with a grin and not even the slightest hint of annoyance in his tone. "What exactly do you want?"

"Remove the Cursed Seal you placed on Naruto Uzumaki's neck."

"Oh, you're still on about that, hm? That seal is as unbreakable to me as it is to him," Orochimaru declared, still smiling. "The only possible way to remove it is to completely drain it of the chakra stored within, and it draws in and converts natural energy whenever it's drained of existing chakra. It does so fast enough to replenish chakra as it's used, in fact most people would die from overusing it before they could ever drain it dry. I suppose if Naruto-kun could somehow treat the chakra of the Cursed Seal as a seperate entity and fight it as a normal opponent... but even then, he'd still need the chakra of his Kyuubi to overpower the seal directly, and he proved to me when we fought that he's incapable of using it."

"So you're saying... you can't remove the seal?" Gaara growled. Kankurou and Temari visibly flinched away from the killing intent Gaara was emitting, and even Orochimaru's eyes widened slightly. It wasn't ordinary killing intent, filled with hate, sadistic anticipation, or even a sense of duty from a shinobi with a mission, instead it sent a message something along the lines of _you are an ant, a minor annoyance that I, a boot, will step on because it is convenient for me. _

"If you can't remove it, I'll just kill you. That should destroy it, and if not, at least you won't be able to use it." Gaara uncrossed his arms from over his chest, and behind him his gourd dissolved into yet more sand that pooled around his feet, ready to attack.

Orochimaru grinned. "I must say, your determination is respectable, for a Genin. But why are you here?"

Gaara made no response, but he did blink at the sound of Mother's voice. _Yes, my son. Why are you here? Killing this man will prove our existence fiercely, but you don't seem concerned with that. So why? _He made no response, and that seemed to annoy Mother. Her tone shifted to match: _Answer me, boy. Why do you forsake my guidance? _Still, he gave no reply. Shukaku finally roared, _YOU LITTLE BRAT! ANSWER! ANSWER TO MY WHIM!_

Gaara flinched. "M-Mother?" he whispered aloud, and his brother and sister each glanced his way. _What's wrong with you, Mother? Is... is Shukaku hurting your mind too?_

Shukaku was startled by that accusation, and decided to tread carefully. _I... I'm sorry, child. Perhaps you're right, I don't know what came over me._

_It's all right, Mother. _Gaara steeled himself again, and glared at Orochimaru. _We won't let ourselves be controlled by that monster any more. _

This disturbed the Bijuu even more. _What do you mean? Controlled? Do you really think the Sand Demon has been...?_

_I suppose we'll find out whether it's true, when I receive the Eight Trigrams Seal from Naruto. _"Kankurou, get Crow ready. Don't bother with your usual baiting trick; just attack him. Temari, hide yourself in the trees until you get a chance to use the Wind Scythe Jutsu. I'll fight him head-on with my sand; that should provide an opening for one of you."

"Uh... okay..." Kankurou was the first to agree. _Gaara... you're actually trying to work with us as a team... I don't understand this at all... _he slid the bundle of white bandages, his real body, off his puppet's back, and set it down horizontally on the tree limb they were perched on. Then he dissolved the disguise of chakra-altered sand that covered his puppet, and moved Crow to attack. Gaara's sand accompanied the high-quality ninja puppet in its attack.

Orochimaru watched the heavily armed puppet and wave of sand approach, making no move to escape. The automaton rattled loudly as it made its attack, and Orochimaru casually swatted aside its poisoned blades with Kusanagi, then jumped to a higher branch to avoid Gaara's sand. He dropped his sword and made a single hand seal, just before Crow began spitting poisoned darts at the Sannin. "Wind Release: Erasing Wind Jutsu." the projectiles were scattered harmlessly.

"Lightning Release: Thunderclap Jutsu." a single lightning bolt lashed out from Orochimaru's right hand, and Gaara's sand caught it. A section of his sand was melted into glowing orange, boiling liquid glass. All three Genin flinched and covered their ears when the real attack struck: a deafening clap of thunder that drew blood from their ears. Orochimaru's hand seals didn't slow down, and he added, "Fire Release: Fire Clone Jutsu." five identical copies of the Sannin appeared at his sides, and stalked forward. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu."

Gaara's eyes widened, and he leapt into the air, desperate to dodge this new attack. The dragon tried to curve upward and follow him, but missed low. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough," Gaara called with a tone of urgency, and aimed his palms downward. A gust of wind tore at the top of the liquid dragon, destabilizing and destroying it while also pushing Gaara up to the next available tree limb.

"Ah, I thought so," Orochimaru noted. "That sand you use must be kept as a dry powder. Wetting it or melting it into glass moves it out of your control, doesn't it? Likewise if you yourself get wet, hm? Fortunately for you, most Konoha shinobi use Earth Release and... well, do Fire Release jutsu melt your sand as well as Lightning?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed, and he directed a tendril of sand toward one of Orochimaru's clones, detonating it violently. The flames ignited the trees nearby, but the sand was left unharmed, and Gaara retracted it. "Does that answer your question?" he rasped angrily.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari roared, and a blast of wind ripped apart the tree limbs that had obscured her until then. Orochimaru silently used the Substitution Jutsu to switch places with one of his Fire Clones, which was obliterated by the attack.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Serpent Jutsu." a thin stream of yellow, crackling energy shot out of Orochimaru's right index finger, taking the form of a snake. It flew toward an exposed Temari, but was cut off by a wall of sand that was melted into glass on contact. Temari's eyes widened behind it, but she seized the oppurtunity and concealed herself in the trees, just before the floating wall of liquid glass that obscured her slowly fell apart. "Hm... so you _can _exert some control over glass. Interesting."

_Let me fight him, _Mother told him firmly. _I have more chakra than you; I can kill him._

Gaara ignored her, once again. There was a growing suspicion in the back of his mind, too terrible for him to put into words, too terrible for him to face. That quiet, timid voice asked him, no matter how much he wanted to ignore the thought, _how do you know she's really your mother? _

He disregarded that thought, and gathered his sand for another attack. Kankurou's puppet once again lunged at Orochimaru, with its mechanisms clacking loudly. Orochimaru turned to face the sound, and formed a few quick hand seals. "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu." With his hands still clasped together in the Tiger hand seal, Orochimaru breathed out a plume of orange flame that consumed Crow and further ignited the forest.

_Enough of this, _growled a low, monstrous voice in Gaara's mind, one he had never heard before. Immediately, he realized it was Shukaku. _I'm going to take control of your body, and I'm going to kill this man. _Gaara screamed in sudden agony, and buried himself in sand, instantly drawing Kankurou and Temari's attention. Orochimaru sneered, and extended his right hand, aiming it at a distracted Temari and declaring, "Striking Shadow Snakes."

Temari turned in time to see six snakes extend out of Orochimaru's sleeve, and her eyes widened in disbelief. _How does he know where I'm hiding? _she asked herself, and made a desperate attempt to dodge, but failed. One snake's snout hit her fan, and knocked it from her hand. The other five coiled around her and pulled her violently back to Orochimaru, who raised his left hand and fired a similar attack at Crow. The Sannin crushed Kankurou's puppet into pieces, and Temari winced, realizing how easily he could do the same to her.

Instead, Orochimaru merely reeled her in and gently placed the edge of his sword at her throat. "I'm going to kill you," he informed her, "When both of your brothers are watching." One of the snakes holding her flicked out its tongue, brushing her shoulder, and she flinched. "Hm. Did you snakes smell through their tongues? They're mostly incapable of taste, but this one here..." Orochimaru stroked the serpent's spine gently, "...tells me you smell quite appealing."

Kankurou, meanwhile, had freed himself from the bundle of white wrapping he'd been covered in, and was reaching for a kunai. "Let her go, you sick freak."

"First of all, no." Orochimaru directed a snake to swat aside the kunai Kankurou threw, then entangled him as he'd done with Temari. "Shadow Venom Jutsu." from each of his sleeves, a snake with black scales like obsidian emerged, flicking out their tongues. "Second, I'm not a 'sick freak.' It was this snake here, which claimed your sister smells delicious, and I'm certain he'd take offense to being called a 'sick freak,' but unfortunately he's not one of the two snakes present which possess venom, so he's not the one who gets to kill you."

Orochimaru grinned at their looks of horror. "Yes, that's right." one black snake coiled around each Sand Sibling's neck, and bared their fangs. "These two here. Once Gaara emerges from that sand, I'll treat him to the sight of his only remaining family dying. Oh yes, I should mention that... I killed the Fourth Kazekage this morning."

The sphere of sand surrounding Gaara collapsed, and the snakes lunged forward to kill their prey.

They hit two thin plates of floating sand, which they choked on.

"No..." Gaara's voice growled slowly. "...I won't let you tell me what to do, I won't listen to you."

His entire upper body was covered in a thick construct of hardened sand, which bore deep blue, swirling marks, with animal arms ten feet long, and a canine head of sand. A single giant racoon's tail extended from the base of his spine, and his gourd was apparently gone. "I'll listen to Mother, but not you, demon. Never you."

He shuddered as the Ichibi assaulted him mentally, but didn't bother replying further. The half-transformed Jinchuuriki leapt forward to the next suitable tree limb, and directed a dozen thin blades of sand to slice through the necks of each snake, starting with the black, venomous ones. Orochimaru's grin vanished, as Kankurou and Temari were released from his grasp. "Hide in the trees, retreat," Gaara ordered, and his siblings did. "Now," the Jinchuuriki trained his gaze on Orochimaru, "I'll kill you. I'll enjoy it, yes, but we'll have to make this quick."

_How? _Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. _Suna's data told me beyond a shadow of a doubt that Gaara of the Sand Waterfall doesn't have enough control over Shukaku to think rationally in this state. He shouldn't have been able to think about saving his brother and sister. In fact, he should be completely berserk right now, but he looks more sane than he did before this transformation. _He scowled. _It's time I started treating these three as a valid threat. _

The Sannin bit his left thumb, drawing blood, and bared the snake tattoo on his right arm to wipe the blood down it. "Summoning Jutsu!" A colossal crimson snake appeared in a plume of white smoke between Orochimaru and Gaara. "Kigachi, maim this creature, but leave it alive," the Sannin ordered. The snake lunged forward obediently.

"STOP!"

Orochimaru and Gaara both directed their attention to the newly-arrived Anko, who bared her own summoning tattoo, and snarled, "Kigachi, get the hell out of here! This is between two snake summoners!"

Kigachi sighed. "Ah, I see," he said sadly in a deep, rasping voice. He turned back to Orochimaru, and recited, "When two summoners of the same species do battle, both have the right to invoke this law, which will allow both summoners to banish each other's summons without spending chakra and with no resistance from the summon. This is to prevent infighting and casualties in our clan. Only the clan head, in this case Manda-sama, can remove this seal from the battle, but to do so he must choose one of you to side with. I'm afraid Manda-sama isn't the type to do that. He cares naught for either of you."

Kigachi vanished the way he'd appeared, in a puff of chakra-laced smoke. Orochimaru sighed, and addressed Anko, "You do realize you have no chance of beating me now, yes? If you had've summoned Manda, and promised him a hundred sacrifices..." he tsked. "Anko-chan, I thought I'd trained you better."

"Shut up," she fired back. "I'm gonna be the one to kill you, not Manda. And I don't exactly have a hundred human sacrifices to hand him."

"Hm," Orochimaru hummed. "Well, at wish I could say it was interesting, seeing you after all these years, Anko-chan, but frankly I'm disappointed in you." he locked eyes with her, and she realized what was coming only a moment too late. "Cursed Seal of Heaven."

She screamed, even as she fell unconscious from the unexpected torture. Her Cursed Seal, after years of laying dormant, surged to life and burned her as it spread over her neck.

Gaara watched her fall, landing in the branches of another, much smaller tree below. Even through she was unconscious, her body continued to convulse from the spreading Cursed Seal. "Another juinjutsu," Gaara observed. "So you know this woman."

"I trained her myself," Orochimaru replied. "Though not as well as I'd thought, it seems."

Gaara made no reply; he simply leapt forward. The partially manifested form of Shukaku trailed a fine mist of sand as Gaara moved. "You said... you killed the Fourth Kazekage this morning?"

Orochimaru retreated to a further-away branch once Gaara got too close. "That's right."

"I wanted to do that," Gaara snarled. "Killing that man would be both revenge and further proof of my existence. He was mine!" The Suna Jinchuuriki began attacking, and Orochimaru blocked the limbs of sand with a hastily recovered Kusanagi. Orochimaru's three remaining clones all lunged at Gaara's flanks, while the real one distanced himself from the Jinchuuriki.

Gaara's left sand arm swatted aside one clone, his tail impaled a second, and his right hand caught and crushed the third. All three exploded, and Gaara's false head of sand turned its gaze back to the real Sannin. It bared its teeth in a feral grin, and growled, "Don't run away, snake. Don't bore me with a chase!" he punched his right sand arm forward, and it stretched out, reaching for Orochimaru, who dodged, but said nothing. "I've only just _started _to enjoy this battle!"

_Ah... it seems his control over the Ichibi has faltered. _Orochimaru silently began a new sequence of hand seals. "Lightning Release: Heaven Arrow Jutsu!" Ten shafts of yellow light, each two feet long, shot out of Orochimaru's ten fingers to stab into Gaara's sand body. The sand surrounding the points of impact was melted into glass, and Gaara let it fall free of his false body. He smoothed over the craters in the sand, leaving him with a slightly smaller sand body, and snarled at Orochimaru.

Before the Jinchuuriki could move, however, someone else shot past him in a black blur. After a moment, Gaara recognized Hinata, and her voice shouting fiercely, "Two, Four, Eight, Sixteen Palms!" her hands slammed into Orochimaru in a blur of carefully aimed movement. Then, she put distance between herself and Orochimaru's Kusanagi, leaping to a midway point between him and Gaara.

"Hellhound Mode. Level Two." Gaara'se real eyes widened inside the sand construct as he felt a wave of intense heat wash over him, enough to warm him even through the deep, cool sand. He created a Third Eye of sand and aimed it backward, glimpsing the head of a fire-wreathed dog emerge through the foliage. Judging from the head alone, the creature had to be at least fifteen feet tall. Its fur, under the flames, was white, and its eyes were shimmering yellow. Then, two more identical heads appeared on either side of the first, and all three gave a roar in stereo:

"_Cerberus!_"

The monster emerged fully, through branches and leaves that it burned as it passed. Kiba, in this new form, perched with surprising agility on a relatively thin tree limb, which caught fire under his paws. "Fire Release," he growled, and smoke began to pour forth from all three of his mouths. "Ash Pile Burning!"

"We got your back, Gaara, believe it!"

"...Uzumaki?" his Third Eye looked upward, spotting Naruto in one of the tallest trees. His hands were already making seals.

"Rasengan!" Hinata drew Gaara's attention once more by throwing her most powerful jutsu at Orochimaru, who dodged it.

"Wind Release: Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari joined in, forcing her fully-opened fan through the air to launch her signature jutsu at the Sannin. Kankurou silently reattached his chakra strings to Crow's broken but still bladed limbs, and resumed fighting Orochimaru as well.

Kiba's ash cloud floated forward through the air, and Orochimaru began retreating. He glanced up and trained his gaze on Naruto's neck. _He broke the Cursed Seal! _The snake realized, but could do nothing with his fury. "Wind Release!" the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki grinned spitefully down at his foe, and finished his seal sequence. "Drilling Air Bullet!"

"Dual Rasengan!" Hinata cried, throwing two more Spiralling Spheres alongside Naruto's attack.

"Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Kiba added.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

Gaara understood what they were doing, and dissolved his entire sand body into a single flow that he directed toward Orochimaru. "Sand Coffin," he rasped calmly, as Shukaku's influence had mostly receded.

"I've had enough of this," Orochimaru muttered unhappily, and slammed his palm down onto the branch he was perched on, as the collection of powerful attacks closed in. "Summoning Jutsu!" Kigachi appeared once more, surprised and disoriented. While his master fled, the crimson snake was struck by all six attacks, including both of Hinata's Rasengan. He was cut by wind, ripped apart by swirling chakra, burned by chakra-laced fire, cut by more wind, and crushed from all sides by sand, not that Orochimaru knew or cared. The Sannin was already gone.

Gaara's sand reformed into his gourd, and he dispassionately watched the snake's mangled corpse fall to the ground far below. Naruto leapt down to the same branch Gaara stood on, and beamed in the fleeing Orochimaru's general direction. "Hey, Gaara!" he greeted happily, and reached into his weapons pouch. Gaara glanced down at it, wondering idly if Naruto was drawing a kunai. If so, his sand shield would stop it, but the blond boy produced four scrolls, two Heaven and two Earth. Gaara's eyes widened very slightly.

"Yeah, I gotta pay you back for giving us an extra scroll, and coming out here to fight a Sannin for me, ya know?" Naruto handed one of each type of scroll to his fellow Jinchuuriki, who hesitated to take them. "What? Don't tell me you thought I'd just forget that happened? Thanks, by the way. You did that for me and my team, and you didn't have to, so thanks."

Gaara made up his mind, and took the scrolls. "You've broken your juinjutsu without help," he observed. "I came out here for nothing."

"You tried to save me. It doesn't matter that I managed to save myself first." Naruto glanced down. "Is that... the exam proctor? Anko?"

Gaara nodded slightly. "Yes. she tried to fight Orochimaru, but he activated a juinjutsu that she already had."

"Then we need to take her with us to the tower. Whoever's waiting for us there can get her to a medic-nin." Naruto looked around, spotting Kiba once again in his normal human form, without his fire shroud. "Hey, does anyone here have a summoning contract? We're gonna need some way to carry Anko!"

Temari blinked in surprise, and glanced down at the incapacitated Anko. "I have a contract," she spoke up.

"Great!" Naruto replied enthusiastically. "We need you to summon something to carry Anko. I don't think anyone here can just carry her all the way to the tower."

Temari nodded, and swung her fan. "Summoning Jutsu!" In a cloud of white smoke, a giant black-and-white weasel leapt into existence, armed with a scythe. One of the creature's eyes was covered by an eye patch. "Kamatari," Temari ordered, "We need you to carry that woman and follow us." she pointed to Anko.

"Simple enough," Kamatari replied, and leapt down to Anko's side.

Kiba finished supressing the various fires in the area, and Hinata gave up on tracking Orochimaru with her Byakugan. Naruto leapt away to where Kankurou was gathering the fragments of Crow. "So, this was a ninja puppet, right? Can I help you put him back together?"

Kankurou gave a single, sad laugh. "Thanks kid, but no. You'd just end up breaking him more. Ninja puppets are complex machines, and repairing them isn't easy. This'll take me days to fix, and I have to do it by myself."

X

"So." Kiba looked around the interior of the tower at sunrise. "...the hell do we do now?"

Naruto shrugged. "Open the scrolls?"

"That might not be wise," Gaara observed solemnly. "If it turns out to be the wrong course of action, we'll be disqualified."

"Do we wait here until the end of the fifth day, then?" Temari asked rhetorically. Meanwhile, Kamatari set Anko down and vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

"If we do that, and that's a mistake too, then we fail the exam, right?" Kankurou questioned. "I mean, Anko did say we're supposed to bring the scrolls to the tower, which we did, and we'd be disqualified if we didn't _reach_ the tower, but here we are."

"Anko-sensei should wake up over the next four days. If we're still here by then, I'm sure she'll pass us. We rescued her from a fricken Sannin," Kiba commented.

"We won't be here for four days," Hinata replied. All eyes turned to where she was standing, reading an inscription on the far wall. "We're supposed to open the scrolls now," she said with confidence. "I looked inside them with my Byakugan, there's a summoning seal on them. Well, half of one on each. Together, they should summon a random Konoha Chuunin."

"Ah, that's pretty smart," Naruto mused. "If a Chuunin randomly finds themselves in front of a Genin in the forest, they'd be kinda angry, right? And they'd probably have orders to disqualify that Genin team. No peeking, ya know?" he paused. "And looking inside the scrolls with your Byakugan was genius, Hinata."

"If your theory turns out to be correct," Gaara noted, "then she cheated."

Naruto froze. "G-Gaara? You wouldn't..."

"I see no reason to rat you out," the other Jinchuuriki replied. "I mean to face you in battle, at some point during this exam, and I can't do that if you're disqualified."

"Thank you, Gaara-kun," Hinata replied sincerely. Despite his efforts to supress the reaction, Gaara's eyes widened at her tone. Hinata returned to where the other five Genin were standing. "So, is everyone ready?"

Naruto produced Team Eight's pair of scrolls, and crouched to set them on the floor. "I'm all set." Kiba nodded at the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's words. Gaara silently revealed his own set of scrolls, and laid them on the floor as Naruto had done. "All right, let's do this," the last Uzumaki excitedly declared, and peeled open the seals on the Heaven and Earth Scrolls.

"If we are disqualified here," Gaara growled to Naruto, "I'll still fight you outside of the exam."

Naruto simply grinned as he pulled open the two scrolls, revealing the fuinjutsu on both. His smile faltered briefly when he saw just how basic his own seals were, by comparison. In the split second before the seals triggered, he resolved himself to actually finish _that project _with the first chance he got.

The scrolls he was crouched over exploded into a fine, white powdery smoke. A surprised Iruka Umino was revealed when the smoke faded, and he looked down at the Genin who had summoned him. "N-Naruto?"

"Iruka-sensei!" the black-clad shinobi greeted with a broad smile, and hugged his former teacher.

He turned to glance over at the other Chuunin, and added, "Mizuki-sensei!"

Mizuki made eye contact with Naruto, and the younger ninja was suprised by the subtle hint of distaste and hate in his elder's eyes. It was masked, of course, by a friendly smile, but this only made it more disturbing. "Yo, Naruto-kun," Mizuki greeted, and although his efforts to hide it were entensive, Naruto could sense the same disgust in Mizuki's voice. "I haven't seen you since you graduated, but I heard you've been training under the Sannin Jiraiya."

Naruto looked away, and just barely managed to keep himself from shuddering. _Mizuki-sensei? What happened to you? _He forced a smile, and asked, "So Iruka-sensei, this means we passed the second test, right?"

"That's right, Naruto." Iruka beamed, then glanced past the group of Genin. "Is that Anko-chan?" he asked, wide-eyed, and passed through the group in a hurry. "Anko?"

"She fought Orochimaru," Naruto explained, repeating the story Gaara had relayed to him. "He activated her Cursed Seal, but he didn't actually attack her." In the back of his mind, though, Naruto was wondering incredulously, _Did Iruka-sensei just say... Anko-chan?_

"Her Cursed Seal," Iruka repeated. "Damn it..." he crouched over the unconscious higher-ranked ninja, and gently laid a hand on her neck, just above the seal. "The Curse Sealing Method is working again," he noted, and brushed his fingers down, directly over the seal. "You said Orochimaru didn't attack her, but these bruises..."

"She fell unconscious when the juinjutsu triggered," Gaara explained. "We were all standing in one of the tallest trees, and she fell into the canopy of a smaller one."

"I see," Iruka replied absently, and frowned. "Anko-chan..."

"Iruka," Mizuki spoke up, "I'll take her to the medics, don't worry." he glanced toward Gaara. "You three go with Iruka. I was supposed to accompany you out of the forest, but Iruka can take all six of you, and that'll leave me to carry Mitarashi-san directly to a healer."

Iruka sighed, and nodded without turning to face Mizuki. "All right. Take care of her," he replied, then turned back to the six Genin. "The rest of you come with me. You've passed the second test, and the third one doesn't start for another four days." he smiled, and despite his obvious unease, it wasn't a false smile. "You six are lucky. You get a nice long break before the next test."

**Please Review!**


	12. Gaara Decides

_Reviews this time came from Lyanah, Kin Hisagi, Winto-kun, Ayrmed, Musical cake, Steam Powered Crow, rperodin, *That Guy,* Dragon Man 180, and *Guest,* and were much appreciated._

_One month ago I uploaded chapter 1 of this story, and its stats on September 15, 2013, 5 PM Eastern time are as follows: 104 reviews, 18,962 views, 6 C2s, 110 favs, and 165 alerts. Awesome._

_Lyanah: The main complaint of that guest reviewer is the Rinnegan. It came out of nowhere and can be seen as wank, and I'm still not sure if I should put it in the summary. Any opinions, folks? Anyway, I never said Zabuza and Haku weren't coming back; it was Kiba who said so. Yeah, I felt bad for Kigachi even as I was writing him. Gaara said that Hinata cheated because that's how a proctor would see it. The scrolls' contents weren't meant to be read by Genin in the forest, it was a test of a shinobi's integrity and ability to follow orders. Then again, I forgot to have Anko tell the Genin not to open them... o.o _

_Kin Hisagi: I was under the impression that 'Chuunin' was the group the summoning scrolls would randomly pick from, and only Jounin accompanied the Genin teams from villages like Suna in canon. Baki is a Jounin, hence he couldn't be summoned. _

_Winto-kun: Thank you for your honesty, and how polite you were about it. _

_Ayrmed: Yeah, fanfiction is awesome. Maybe I should start putting recommended links on my profile... meh. Some other time._

_Musical cake: You speak as though you know from experience... NINJA O.O_

_Steam Powered Crow: Ah, an interesting thought. Manda might not care, but the other snakes would have a problem with that, although there's nothing to say Orochimaru hadn't done it before, in theory._

_rperodin: Oh, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Hiashi._

_*That Guy:* I can neither confirm nor deny any speculation on Asuma's, or any other character's future deaths. Although Kiba is certainly much closer to him than Naruto and Hinata are._

_Dragon Man 180: Mizuki wouldn't try to kill Anko, since it could lead to a fight if she wakes up, and there's nothing in it for him. He just took Anko to the hospital._

_*Guest:* Best? Why, thank you, I'm honored._

X

"It actually worked."

Naruto gingerly picked up the first of three bronze rings on the floor, now marked with a miniscule fuinjutsu on the outside of the otherwise unmarked band. There was no crystal or engraving set into the trinket, and the new seal was the only marking on it. The creator of the new tool slipped the ring onto his right middle finger, noting with satisfaction that it fit perfectly and was rather comfortable. Naruto grinned, and pulsed a bit of chakra into his fingers, triggering the seal.

Storage seals are often considered a basic shinobi skill, and are startlingly versatile. Given enough time and chakra, a competent seal user can create a pocket dimension on a scroll, easily large enough to live in, although such a seal would likely take up an entire ninja scroll, and won't automatically filter in fresh air. Inversely, a seal can be made to create a storage dimension of exact size and shape, fitted to contain one and only one object. Such seals are slightly more complex, but can be written into a tiny package.

Naruto, like many fuinjutsu practitioners before him, had decided to write the seal on a much larger scale, on the floor of his bedroom. He'd used a rather common sealing method to shrink it down to the intended size, once its magnified version was drawn to exact detail.

The end result was that the reusable seal released his new sword into his palm instantaneously. His fingers and palm then tightened around the hilt and released chakra once more, pressing the sword back into the ring.

The weapon had originally been intended for mass production within the Uzumaki Clan, a signature weapon for them all to have access to, but their extermination and the fall of Uzushio had put a stop to that. It was given a name; U-1917 'Kuroga,' roughly translating to English as 'Black Fang.' It got its name from the fact its entire construction of high-carbon steel had been 'blued' to protect against rust, but the end result was steel that was nearly black.

The Kuroga bore a unique 'partial basket hilt,' as it had been described in the paperwork Naruto had found for it in the armory. Rather than a curved hilt of steel like an ordinary cutlass, this one had a plate of blued steel armor attached to it that covered the front and outside of his hand when he wielded it. Dozens of small holes had been cut into the plate to make it slightly lighter without making it thinner.

The blade was untouched by the years or decades since it had last been unsheathed. According to the history books, most of the Uzumaki had been killed off in the days of the First and Second Hokage, which meant the weapon was likely fifty years old, give or take a decade. The remaining Uzumaki, including Mito Uzumaki, the first Jinchuuriki no Kyuubi, brought their remaining members and assets to Konoha, including the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside Mito, and the massive collection of weapons, mostly cutlasses, that had likely never been wielded.

Naruto had found the sword amid a pile of more generic-looking weapons, haphazardly dumped in a mound of hilts and scabbards. It had occured to Naruto that Mito herself might well have been the one to leave the armory like this, and as such, she might have been the last person to touch this sword before Naruto. That little slice of history, coupled with Naruto's newfound interest in stealthy, black shinobi clothing, had led him to choose this weapon over the countless others.

That, and the sword was clearly of the highest quality he could get. The balance was perfect, the blade was razor-sharp, and it somehow felt vastly sturdier than his previous cutlass. It was no Sword of Kusanagi, to be fair, but Naruto was confident this one wouldn't snap in two the next time he fought Orochimaru.

And he was certain there would be a next time; even if it was years down the road, even if Naruto faced him under the robes and hat of the Hokage, he _would _face the Snake Sannin again. It would likely be much sooner than that; Orochimaru wasn't the sort of threat that just goes away after a while. He wanted a Rinnegan, and he was ready to fight for it.

"Okay," Naruto shook the grim thoughts from his head, "Next up. Hinata's ring, then Kiba's."

It was early evening; twelve hours ago Team Eight had finished the second phase of the Chuunin Exam. Naruto had already finished his other project mere hours after he arrived home, and that left him with only this remaining invention, another crucial advantage he could share with his team. These rings would bring them closer to a Chuunin promotion, which in turn brought Naruto closer to a Hokage promotion.

Naruto first picked up Hinata's new weapon from where it lay on his bed, and drew a tiny black seal on the wooden handle. The idea for this 'targeting seal' had come from inspecting his father's Hiraishin kunai. He'd come to realize that the fuinjutsu laid on the weapon itself was startlingly simple, easy to cast on an object or a person in the middle of a heated battle. It was merely a chakra-laced target mark which made it easier to 'lock on' to, and Naruto could replicate a weaker version of the effect with his own fuinjutsu, a subtle beacon which either a person or another seal could make use of, if they knew to look for it.

Since Hinata's weapon had potential for throwing, this seal made it slightly more useful for Substitution, and it also served as an additional guarantee that her new weapon would appear in her hand in the correct position when unsealed, ready to be snatched and wielded immediately. The target seal on the weapon would appear perfectly lined-up with the storage seal on the ring.

The Rinnegan helped him with fuinjutsu, far more so than ninjutsu. With it, he could see the chakra in his fuinjutsu ink, and could see the multiple layers of complex seal networks, even if he hadn't been the one to draw the seal. Looking at his father's Hiraishin beacon, he could see how it was assembled. He still needed to have actual skill in order to comprehend what he was looking at, but he could see it, and that was a start, in fact it was enough to decipher this piece of the Hiraishin. He hoped that when he worked up the guts to look at the Eight Trigrams Seal on his chest with an active Rinnegan, it wouldn't be as intimidating as it felt right now.

_Even a single Bijuu's power, channeled back into the Ten-Tails… you have to stop them, Naruto. Stop the Akatsuki._

The Eight Trigrams Seal was crucial. It was his best chance to convince Gaara to ally with him, and if two Jinchuuriki together, rather than just one, tried to convince the other seven to unite...

_It's not time for thoughts like this, not yet. _Naruto sighed, and returned his focus to the task at hand, wiping away a mark where he'd slipped in his distraction, then started painting the same mark properly.

X

Kiba Inuzuka was completely content with the world and his place in it.

Yesterday, he'd fought one of the most feared missing-nin in the world, alongside Akamaru, Naruto and Hinata. And they'd won! With the help of three other Genin, fair enough, but they'd won without a single scratch. Not only that, but they'd shortly after that passed the second phase of the Chuunin Exam.

Now, he was beginning the day alongside his team under a sunny sky, stretched out on a beach of white sand, still cool from the previous night, with Akamaru curled up on his chest and sleeping peacefully.

_Yeah... this is what it means, to live... One day I'm fighting an exhilarating battle for my life; the next I'm relaxing, enjoying what I've won with my victory. _

"Sorry I'm late, guys," Naruto's voice said quietly, and the sound of footfalls in the soft sand approached. Kiba peeked his right eye open, and glimpsed Hinata trying feebly to cover up her exposed legs. She was wearing her favorite lavender-white hoodie, and under it a dark orange bikini with a skirt that went just past mid-thigh. Hinata being Hinata, she had immediately felt regret at the choice of swimwear upon arrival, the very moment she made eye contact with someone. That person had been a civilian girl of maybe eight summers, walking by in a yellow sundress with a matching yellow bucket of sand in her left hand.

Hinata had squealed, sat down cross-legged in the sand, produced a beach towel when Kiba wasn't looking, and laid it over her legs, blushing bright red. This drew a confused look from the little girl who, after a moment's consideration, decided she should just resume the return trip to her sandcastle.

She gave a quiet 'eep' sound, and quickly looked away from a shirtless Naruto. "H-Hey, Naruto... N-Naru-kun," she reminded herself after a moment.

Naruto stuck his hands in the pockets of his knee-length, neon orange shorts, grinning. "Yo, Hina-chan, Kiba, Asuma-sensei!" he greeted enthusiastically. "I made you guys something!"

"Made?" Hinata questioned, surprised.

Naruto pulled his hands out of his pockets once more, and unfurled his fists. In each of his palms rested a glistening bronze ring marked with a tiny fuinjutsu, and he passed the one in his right hand to Hinata. Kiba, unable to sit up with Akamaru sleeping on his chest, merely caught the ring Naruto tossed to him carefully. "Watch this!" he triggered the seal on his ring, releasing his new sword. "Try yours, Hina-chan. Make sure the seal faces toward your palm, and pulse a bit of chakra into it."

She nodded, and stood, but blushed faintly when the towel fell from her legs in doing so. She slipped on the ring, and ejected the contents of the seal, which turned out to be a three-foot-long staff of stout, dark red cherrywood. It was roughly the proper length for kenjutsu sparring, but it clearly wasn't a sparring tool. Cherrywood was expensive, and this staff was beautifully inlaid with a swirling design of real gold. "It's beautiful," she breathed, wide-eyed, "I've never seen anything like it."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Naruto replied proudly. "Maybe try the Byakugan?" he suggested eagerly.

She nodded, and activated her doujutsu, then gasped. "A release mechanism! Triggered by chakra, to release and retract..." she pulsed her chakra again, unleashing a double-edged, foot-long blade from each end of the stave. Both blades were also adorned with more delicate gold inlays.

"This is... incredible, Naruto-kun. A weapon like this... it must have been commisioned for me personally. It can be used non-lethally with just the stave part, and with the blades extended I can angle the weapon to block and attack, both ahead of me and behind me, almost simultaneously. And the quality of it! Where... who in Konoha could have made something like this?"

Naruto grinned. "Me."

"H-Huh?" Hinata mumbled in disbelief.

"Believe it. I got the Forge Level Two working, and that means I can use the Asura Path to create high-quality, permanent weapons with only my chakra and a bit of starting material to replicate. So, the gold in that staff is made of exactly the same metal as a gold coin, since that was the source material."

Hinata retracted the blades into the staff, then pressed the entire weapon back into her ring, and hugged Naruto. "It's perfect!" she said gratefully, with a trace of awe in her voice. "It's... it's..."

"Awesome," Kiba finished. "But, I'm kinda stuck down here," he said with a nod to Akamaru, "So, what's in mine? Is it dangerous for me to unseal, down here?"

"You said yesterday, that kunai melt when you use your second Hellhound Mode, and then later, you mentioned that the first level ruins the temper on any kunai you touch, so I made you a nice little collection of kunai that won't get damaged by heat. It took a bit of work, but I was able to borrow a trace of a really heat-resistant metal called tungsten, and I alloyed it with steel," Naruto replied.

"There's about two dozen in that ring, and five Fuuma Shuriken of the same metal, 'cause Fuuma Shuriken are awesome. The kunai pop out first, one at a time, and when they're gone it starts releasing the shuriken. Remind me to fix that later with a second fuinjutsu. I kinda rushed it, 'cause it was getting late, and I didn't want to make you feel left out, ya know? If I gave Hina-chan that awesome staff, and you nothing, it'd be kinda rude."

"Thanks, Naruto," Kiba replied, and put the ring on, unsealing and resealing a shiny silver kunai without a cloth wrapping on the hilt. "That's pretty wicked."

Naruto turned to Asuma, who was smoking a cigarette a few yards away. "Hey, Asuma-sensei, I haven't forgotten you either," he noted apologetically.

"Hm?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna make you a ring too, but yours is... really complex, and like I said, I ran out of time last night. Sorry." Naruto scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Pff," Asuma blew out a stream of smoke. "Don't worry about it. My chakra blades have always done the trick up 'til now."

"Nice to have an ace in the hole, though," Kiba observed. "And these things _are_ pretty cool. Our competition in the Chuunin Exam won't see this coming."

Naruto nodded, then turned his gaze on the tide, gently washing up over a plane of wet sand, a bit further each time. "Okay, I'm going for a swim! Who's coming with me?"

Hinata took in the sight of the water, her chakra element, gently rolling up the beach as if reaching for her. Sh unzipped her hoodie, revealing the top half of her bikini, and curves under it that didn't belong on a twelve-year-old. "I'll go," she replied, but blushed when she saw where Naruto was looking. "N-Naruto?"

He turned away, and wiped away a bit of blood that had trickled from his nose. The only somewhat coherent thought he could form was, _She looks... good._

_He wasn't, was he? _Hinata shook her head imperceptibly. _He wouldn't stare. _Naruto wiped his nose again, and this time, she caught it. _He did! He was... checking me out... _"O-Okay, N-Naru-kun, let's go," she said shakily, and picked up a mussel shell from the sand at her feet, then threw it toward the water. Silently, she used a Substitution to switch places with the shell. It hit the sand quietly, while she squealed from plunging into the frigid water.

Naruto sprinted toward the water excitedly, startling Akamaru into waking on Kiba's chest. The young ninken reared his head to watch Naruto throwing himself headfirst into the water, then yawned and stood, being careful not to scratch Kiba's bare chest with his lethally sharp claws as he jumped down to the sand below. Kiba sat up, and brushed away some sand sticking to his back, then stood and did the same to his crimson trunks. "Akamaru, let's go."

The juvenile ninken woofed happily, and followed Kiba to the water.

X

_Kill them. Every last one._

_No._

Gaara had learned to withstand the torture Shukaku was now frequently inflicting on him. Echoing under the Bijuu's tone, his mother screamed, begged him to give in, to appease Shukaku and free them both from agony. But Gaara refused. _I will kill, only to prove my own existence, and that requires a worthy opponent, not a crowd of helpless civilians. I won't feed you._

_Kill them all. They don't matter; they only exist to feed us with their screams. They only exist to prolong my existence._

_Your existence means nothing to me. __I care for only myself, I love only myself, and I live only for myself_.

_What about me? _Mother pleaded. _Save me, Gaara-kun. Please!_

_I will, Mother. By taking the Eight Trigrams Seal. _Gaara looked up from his thoughts. _Naruto Uzumaki... he has the power to defeat me. If he fails to do so, then it means his existence is weaker; mine is stronger. My path is the right one, and I will slaughter everyone he cares for. I will give you my body, and Shukaku's power, Mother, either that or I will take the seal._

Gaara's bare feet sank into the white sand as he walked, arms folded over his chest. He felt in his element here; with this much sand around him he was nearly invincible. Then again, a beach paled in comparison to his native desert terrain.

Kankurou and Temari had decided to let him come here alone, knowing he preferred it that way. Being the demon he was, hated as he was for it, he knew he was truly alone, and so he'd become comfortable with it. He had no brother in Kankurou, no sister in Temari, and no father in the Fourth Kazekage. Mother had always been enough.

He looked up from his feet, and stopped walking. A few yards ahead of him, Naruto Uzumaki and his teammates, dripping wet and panting, had just flopped into the soft sand beneath them, smiling. Behind them, a small white dog shook water from his coat vigorously.

"Gaara!" Naruto called, noticing the Jinchuuriki of the One-Tail halted in his approach. The host of Kurama was smiling at him, and waving. His friends and even his sensei joined in. "Come hang out with us," Naruto invited cheerfully.

Gaara made his decision. He approached the Konoha team, and reluctantly set down his gourd to sit next to Naruto. "You need to tell me why. Why are we so different? You should be like me, bent on proving the value of your existence. Why do you smile... like they do, when we aren't around for them to glare at us?"

Naruto winced. "I... don't really know how to put it into words," he admitted, "but I'll try. I'll tell you my story, and then I'll hear yours, yeah?"

Gaara nodded. "Go on."

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki looked down, and took a deep breath. "The day I was born, the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked this village."

_That's a terrible way to put it, _Kurama noted. _I need to tell you the whole story of that day, but later._

Shaken by that confession, Naruto hesitantly continued, "My father, the Fourth Hokage, took me from my mother's arms and brought me into battle against the Kyuubi, where he used the Eight Trigrams Seal to cage it inside me."

_Not the whole truth, but close enough for now._

"I spent the first years of my life not knowing why they hated me, but I pieced it together eventually. They thought, and still think I'm the Kyuubi, not its Jinchuuriki but the Kyuubi itself in human form, regaining its strength to destroy them. And the more they looked at me like that, the more it hurt. The other kids wouldn't play with me, the adults looked at me with hate, and I could barely get a meal, between the shopkeepers chasing me away, and how empty my wallet always was. No parents, no siblings, no friends."

"And I started to resent them for it. I started thinking, 'I should hurt them like they're hurting me.'"

Hinata shuddered. "N-Naruto-kun," she whispered sadly.

Naruto glanced to her, but continued his tale. "I think this is where my story and yours change: One of my Academy teachers, Iruka Umino-sensei, looked at me like a person, a real person like he was, and he smiled. He took me to a restaurant called Ichiraku Ramen, and bought me food. I never stopped going there."

Naruto smiled then, startling Gaara. "When I was nine, I decided I was gonna become the Hokage of Konoha. I didn't know at the time that my dad was the Fourth; I just thought if I was Hokage, the village would have to acknowledge me, look up to me, respect me." he laid a hand over Hinata's where it lay in the sand. "A year after that, Hina-chan here came out of nowhere and made herself my friend. Everyone else besides Iruka-sensei looked at me, and they saw a demon, a monster. Hinata saw a human being."

"Things kept getting better from there," Naruto admitted. "A few other kids stopped treating me like dirt, I graduated and became a Genin, my problems with money even went away. I became stronger with Hina-chan's help, and now I know for sure, I'll be a great Hokage for this village, not just 'cause I want to, but because they need and deserve a great leader. I have a great life, and I'm happy. There are people now who care about me and acknowledge me, even love me."

"I see where we became different," Gaara answered. "The beginning. A demon was sealed inside me, before I was even born. When I entered this world, it was already there to eat away at my soul, and even as I took my first breaths, my mother held me, weeping and dying."

Naruto was the first to flinch, but his team followed suit quickly.

"It never got better. My older brother and sister avoided me as much as the rest of the village. The other children ran away, sometimes screaming, when they saw me, and my sand reached out to drag them back. I begged them to play with me, I cried where they could see me, but the fear was too much. I didn't even live with my father the Kazekage, I was sent to live with my uncle Yashamaru. I thought he was a good man, someone I could love like a father... right up until the night he tried to kill me, and died in that attempt."

"I gave up on people, then. I resolved care for and live for myself alone, to love only myself, and I burned the kanji for love into my own forehead, using sand, to show it. I began to kill. I let the beast inside me do the same. I was made a Genin, assigned to missions, and I was given targets outside Suna to slaughter. All the while, assassination attempts at the command of my own father kept coming; yet more people for me to kill. I began to enjoy it, revel in it. I felt healthier, more alive, when my enemies fell in a spray of blood."

"I realized then, that killing was my purpose. To prove my existence and continue it, I had to slaughter those who raised their weapons against me. And I did. I killed them all, and it made me happy, I suppose. And yet, here I am, doubting my entire existence in the presence of your own. That's why I'm going to weigh my existence against yours, in this exam. I will fight you, and kill you if I win."

Naruto felt sick now. "So that's what it is, then. No one ever reached out to you, like they did with me. No one was there to save you from that pain." he looked away, and shivered. "I'm sorry, Gaara. It must have hurt so much, but... is it really too late?"

Gaara blinked, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I'll be your friend, if you want. I can help you find all the things that made me happy, and maybe you can break out of this nightmare you've been living in."

"So you do believe it, then," Gaara noted. "You believe that my path in life is wrong." he turned his gaze to the rolling waves on the shore. "In order for my existence to have true value, it must be willingly acknowledged, not proven in battle. I need to change, so that those around me truly desire my continued existence. I must become a person worth caring about. Does that sound right, Naruto Uzumaki? Is that how you would say it?"

"I don't know." Naruto shrugged, and looked back at Gaara with a sad expression. "I don't know how I'd say it, all I know is how I feel. And I feel hopeful."

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to test you, the only way I know how. I'm going to fight you, and whoever's existence is stronger, they'll prevail. That means that the one of us who... just doesn't understand... will lose, and if it's me, I'll rethink it all. If it's you, I'll kill you, since that's what I'm meant to do."

Naruto looked at Gaara then, and smiled. "Okay. If that's how you want me to help you, that's how I'll do it."

"I tried it, you know," Gaara confessed. "I tried showing mercy, even compassion, in the second test. I could have unleashed my killing intent on Orochimaru, or even just killed you when I found you unconscious with your team. I didn't do that, and I'm not sure whether I'm satisfied with that decision. I don't know what choice to make, so I'm leaving it in the hands of Fate, whether I receive the Eight Trigrams Seal or not."

"Fate. That's a depressing concept." Gaara turned, and glared at the newcomer, who seemed wholly unconcerned with the killing intent Gaara was trying and failing to restrain. "Ah, calm down. No use getting worked up over it," said the boy with the unusually spiky ponytail. "If you believe in fate, you believe that you're probably gonna get stuck with a life you don't want, and no amount of thinking though it calmly is ever gonna change the hand you've been dealt. What a drag."

"Who are you?" Gaara asked.

"I'm just a guy with a shogi set, looking for a good game," Shikamaru replied with a content smirk. "It's a nice day to sit on a beach and do nothing." he glanced past Team Eight's Genin, and called, "Yo, Asuma-san. You wanna play a few rounds?"

Shikamaru held up his favorite shogi set; the board was actually the top surface of the box that held the pieces. There were no frills or decorations on the set, and the painted squares were partially worn away from use. Asuma grinned, and beckoned him over, putting out his cigarette. "Maybe this'll be the time I beat you," he mused.

"Maybe," Shikamaru noted. "Winning every time is a drag, but at least you put up a fight."

"So where are Ino and Chouji?" Asuma questioned.

"Chouji has to pack half his body weight in snacks, to take with him whenever he leaves his house. And Ino headed here before I did. She's probably scanning the beach for Sasuke as we speak." Shikamaru began setting up his pieces. "She said something along the lines of 'Sasuke-kun can't possibly still be in that forest.' What a drag. She has no idea about Orochimaru attacking him."

"Orochimaru," Asuma repeated. "How the hell did you...?"

"No one told me, I just pieced it together." Shikamaru smirked. "And you just confirmed it."

"Damn." Asuma looked down. "I'm never gonna outwit you, am I?"

"It's a drag," Shikamaru avoided replying. "Orochimaru, taking an interest in Konoha. And worse, he's going after Genin. Granted, I don't have a doujutsu for him to steal, but still. Fears don't always have to be rational, and I know damn well I'd never beat a Sannin in a fight. Now, if I had a six-man team, with a Jinchuuriki and two doujutsu, _and _I knew all six were heirs to powerful clans, or the children of Kage, or both..."

Meanwhile, Akamaru looked up from his second nap on Kiba's chest, when the sunlight was interrupted by the silhouette of a kunoichi reaching down to pet him. Ino was wearing a violet bikini, which immediately drew Kiba's attention when he opened his eyes. Akamaru began to lean into the hand petting him, and his tail whipped from side to side in contentment. "Kiba Inuzuka, right?" Ino greeted. "I don't think we ever really talked in the Academy. I'm Ino Yamanaka." Kiba nodded, and she went back to petting Akamaru. "He's adorable."

"Yeah," Kiba agreed proudly, "and lethal. He could probably take out most Genin in this exam by himself."

"Is that a challenge?" Ino questioned with a sly smirk.

"Yeah, but to him, not you," Kiba replied. "Akamaru can understand human speech. He's a ninja hound, so in a few years he'll probably be able to speak."

"That's pretty cool," Ino admitted, "So, if he understands us... Can you understand him?"

"Yep." Akamaru barked, and Kiba added, "he just said he wants to be scratched right... here." he began massaging the fur behind the puppy's left ear. Akamaru yawned, and favored Kiba with a particularly thankful look. "I've been wondering for a while now... in the Academy, most of what you and Sakura said to anyone was 'don't take that seat next to Sasuke, he's mine.' So nobody really knows much about you, or even what the deal is with Sasuke..."

"Hey, I hang out with Shikamaru and Chouji; they know lots of stuff about me," she replied, and Kiba shrugged in agreement. "As for Sasuke... he's hot," she declared bluntly with a shrug. "I dig the whole 'brooding anti-hero' thing." She looked Kiba up and down, then smirked. "Still, you're kinda cute too, now that I get a good look at you."

"Flirt," the youngest Inuzuka replied, also smirking.

"You don't sound like you have a problem with it," Ino noted.

"Hey, break it up, you two," Hinata interrupted. _Hinata_, of all people. "There are children here."

Kiba glanced around. "Everyone here's a shinobi, and unless Gaara's a lot younger than he looks, we're all twelve or older. I think 'teenagers' sounds more fitting than 'children.' But this is just payback for the Forest of Death, isn't it?"

Ino glanced up at Hinata, then back to Kiba, and put the wrong two and two together "Wait. You, and Hinata?" she asked incredulously.

"N-No!" Hinata shouted in a panic, then added more quietly, "N-Naruto."

Ino nodded. "Aha... I get it. And Kiba... interrupted you two, when you were alone?"

Hinata nodded, then blushed much deeper than she had already. "Wait _no_, not like _that_! We were just kissing!"

"Yeah, that's all I meant," Ino replied, slightly startled. _She's a closet pervert, no doubt about it. I guess it runs in the Hyuuga family, just like they say... _Ino sighed out loud. _Must have something to do with the fact their doujutsu can see through clothes. Yeah, like no one's thought of that! _"So the rumors are true then."

"R-Rumors?"

"They say Naruto awakened the Rinnegan to save you from an army of missing-nin, and you two have been on each other like dogs on furniture ever since."

"Hey!" Kiba protested.

"That's not true at all!" Hinata added firmly. "It was only two missing-nin, Kiba was fighting one already, and we haven't been..." she winced. "'on each other.'"

Ino whistled, nodding, then glanced down at Kiba. "You were fighting a missing-nin too? One-on-one?"

Kiba shrugged. "Two on one; I had Akamaru. Besides, Asuma-sensei tired him out before I got there. And I've never seen a dog do anything to furniture in my whole life," he added, indignant.

"Sorry. The saying just slipped out, I guess," she replied, then added with surprise, "Not one single time?"

"Nope. And I've been around a lot of dogs."

"Huh." Ino stroked her ponytail thoughtfully. "I wonder where the expression came from, then..." she shrugged. "Ah, forget it. I'm going swimming, you wanna come?"

"Sure."

Shikamaru, meanwhile, watched and listened to the exchange. "So, Naruto unlocked his doujutsu through some connection to Hinata. I'll have to think on that some more, later. For now..." he clicked another shogi tile into place. "Tsumi."

"...Ouch," Asuma winced, staring down at the brutal defeat he'd just been handed. "Round two?"

"This is all I've got to do." Shikamaru glanced up. "No clouds today," he observed for the seventh time. "What a drag. I'm probably gonna get sunburnt." he spotted Chouji approaching the beach, wearing brown swimming trunks and a grey shirt covered in crumbs. The Akimichi heir was shoveling back potato chips like his life depended on it. "You know, I've never seen Chouji drinking anything. How does he keep up with the salt in those snacks?"

Asuma shrugged. "If _you _haven't figured it out, asking me isn't gonna help."

"I wanna just say the Akimichi have a kekkei genkai for it, but come on. That's a weak excuse." Shikamaru began resetting the shogi pieces. "And it's gonna keep bothering me 'til I figure it out."

"What a drag," Asuma finished for him, and moved his first piece of the second game.

"I couldn't agree more," Shikamaru replied.

Gaara saw the volleyball coming, but even if he hadn't, his sand would still have sliced it in half.

The four civilians who had been playing with the ball, quite a distance away, froze, staring at Gaara. The bravest of the four, a sixteen-year-old boy, approached with shock and anger in his eyes. "What the hell'd you do that for?" he asked angrily, towering over a seated Gaara. He probably thought he looked menacing.

Gaara looked down at the destroyed ball calmly, then glanced at Naruto, and back up to the older boy. "...I'm sorry. It was a reflexive defence I have no control over." He paused, and added, "Please be more careful."

Naruto nodded, smiling, but the boy would have none of it. "More careful? You little-"

Gaara's eyes narrowed, and the boy shuddered. "Be... more... careful."

"U-Uh..." the boy stepped back, wide-eyed.

"Gaara, it's all right," Naruto announced. "You too," he addressed the civilian. "I can replace your ball, calm down. Hina-chan?" he called, and Hinata turned to look from her conversation with Ino and Kiba. "Can you give me a hand with this?" he asked, and she nodded.

Naruto picked up a scrap of the destroyed volleyball as Hinata approached. "I take it you play with this thing a lot," Naruto noted. "Do you know what the proper size for a volleyball is? Any specific diameter?"

"Regulation size is sixty-five to sixty-seven centimeters," the boy replied numbly.

"Great," Naruto beamed. "We can work with that." Hinata arrived, and Naruto turned his excited grin on her. "Hinata, I need you to make a Rasengan, somewhere around sixty-three centimeters wide, if you can."

She nodded. "I can do it, but... why?"

"We're gonna make a volleyball," Naruto replied, as Hinata began shaping a larger-than-normal Rasengan with both hands. He clenched a scrap of the destroyed ball in his hand, and intoned, "Asura Path: Forge, Level Two."

His Rinnegan lit up in place of his normal blue eyes, and he placed his hands just above the surface of the perfect sphere of chakra. A white liquid began to leak out from under his palms, spreading over the surface of the stable Rasengan and hardening to encase it. "Okay, give it a second... all right, stop the Rasengan." Hinata nodded, and the muffled sound of spinning chakra inside the ball faded away. She removed her hand from beneath the ball, leaving it in Naruto's hands.

He passed it to the boy. "I know it's not quite the same, but it's enough that you and your friends can keep playing." The boy nodded thankfully, and Naruto turned to his own friends. "Hinata, thanks for the help, that was pretty cool. Gaara, thanks for not killing this guy."

The boy whitened. "He was gonna...?"

"I was, and I am, fully capable of it," Gaara replied. "On another day, I might have... but..." he looked away.

_Get away from us!_

_Monster._

_No, get AWAY!_

_Don't hurt me, please!_

Gaara flinched. _I just... wanted to get your ball back. I just wanted to help._

_Monster._

_I didn't mean to hurt anyone!_

_Demon._

_Please, don't run away!_

Gaara closed his eyes, and remembered where he was. A beach in Konoha, many years after that day, and it felt... almost like a second chance. "But... you don't deserve to be killed," he continued. "I don't deserve to kill you. It's wrong."

_What are you saying, Gaara? _Mother whispered. Shukaku had fallen silent completely. _We live to kill. Don't throw our existence away._

_I think I always knew about you, _Gaara replied. _But I didn't have the courage to face the truth. _He turned away from Naruto, Hinata, and the boy with the volleyball, picked up his gourd, and started walking away. "I need to go," he declared, shakily. _I never had the courage to face you. But now I can't hide from it any more. _

_What are you talking about? _Shukaku asked, voice rising with panic.

_My mother is dead. _Beyond Team Eight's hearing range, Gaara began to sob uncontrollably. _You're a liar, Shukaku, you're alone in there. And I hate you._

X

Mizuki cast one last glance around the secluded clearing outside Konoha, confident in his abilities to spot even ANBU-level ninja following him, then slung off his backpack and drew out an exact copy of the Scroll of Seals, the collection of all of Konoha's kinjutsu and hidenjutsu. He'd returned the original the same way he took it, after mastering a few particularly impressive kinjutsu. As he unfurled the scroll, he grinned, recalling the money he'd made selling kinjutsu secrets to the Village Hidden in Sound.

"Mizuki Tora." Orochimaru appeared out of nowhere, directly in front of Mizuki.

"Damn it!" Mizuki roared, and dropped the scroll to form a single seal. "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A hundred fully formed clones appeared from nothing, surrounding the real Mizuki for protection.

"Impressive," Orochimaru noted. "A hundred of them... Surely you're drained from something like that?"

Mizuki patted his weapons pouch. "I'm carrying close to three dozen soldier pills. Expensive little buggers, but worth it."

"Not necessarily. I'm not here to kill you, Mizuki-chan." Orochimaru extended his right hand as he spoke. "The kinjutsu secrets you've been supplying me with... yes, that's right. I am the founder and leader of Oto. The kinjutsu you've been giving to us have been beneficial, but I have an additional transaction I'd like to make with you. An assassination contract; and you'll bring the body to me."

Mizuki scowled, looking around at his clones, who remained in place. "...a Konoha nin? Lemme guess, you want a Sharingan. Kakashi Hatake?"

"Naruto Uzumaki. He's proven himself immune to my favored method of capturing victims and recruits. I want one, or both, of his Rinnegan eyes." Orochimaru grinned. "That said, I'm willing to give one to you, if that's the payment you choose."

"A Rinnegan eye," Mizuki replied thoughtfully. "It's not that simple. Don't get me wrong, I hate the kid, as does much of the village, but if I just kill him and drag the body off, that'll pretty blatantly mark me as a traitor. This is a Bijuu in human form we're talking about. A priceless weapon." Mizuki smirked. "I want asylum in your ninja village, a Rinnegan eye, and access to some of your secret jutsu collection. In exchange, I'll kill Naruto, give you his other eye, and serve directly under you as an officer in this army you're building."

Orochimaru grinned. "That deal doesn't include anything I'd object to, but... I'll need to be certain of your loyalty. To that effect, I'll give you a powerful kinjutsu, right here and now, that will serve as an additional and fearsome weapon for you, whilst also serving as a means through which I can stop you from betraying me." Mizuki's eyes narrowed. "Oh, calm yourself. I couldn't kill you with it, but I could cause you excruciating pain. Enough that you'd rethink your allegiance. You're an investment, after all."

Mizuki pondered this. "The kinjutsu you're offering me... tell me more about it."

"It's called the Cursed Seal of Earth. It draws in natural energy from the atmosphere, converting it into usable chakra..."

**Please Review!**


	13. My Enemy

_Thanks to Pyrrhos, *Guest,* Musical cake, Dragon Man 180, *TL,* *Guest,* *Guest,* Kin Hisagi, *Christabel,* *Guest,* *Guest,* *That Guy,* *Guest,* *Christabel,* *Guest,* *Guest,* *Guest,* and 10000 Fists for reviewing. _

_Pyrrhos: Yeah, the Cursed Seal of Earth is the one Kimimaro has._

_*Guest:* Yes, I regret that scene too but I can't bring myself to go back and erase it. _

_Musical cake: Oh yes, Mizuki is going to be a very fun character to use. _

_Dragon Man 180: Warm up challenge? Mizuki owns a copy of the Scroll of Seals, and he has Kimimaro's Cursed Seal. We already know he has the Shadow Clone Jutsu... If the best I can make him into is a warm up challenge, shoot me in the head._

_*TL:* Wait, THAT's how Naruto got the scroll? I never even thought of that. And the bribes thing... huh... if you're talking about Mizuki selling jutsu to Oto, no one currently knows he's the one who stole the scroll, so no one knows he should be tracked, much less arrested, and after stealing that scroll, there's no doubt he's the most overpowered Chuunin in Konoha. He'd figure out some way to meet with an Oto shinobi, probably in seclusion outside the village. _

_*Guest:* Me too._

_*Guest:* Thank you._

_Kin Hisagi: Really? Thanks!_

_*Christabel:* In canon, Gaara mistook Shukaku's voice for that of his mother, and addressed him as 'Mother.' As far as I know, it's never been confirmed whether Shukaku was actively impersonating his mother or not._

_*Guest:* Thanks. I hope I did whatever you were hoping I would do._

_*Guest:* ...huh?_

_*That Guy:* Good point. I hadn't thought of that._

_*Guest:* Thank you._

_*Christabel:* Thanks. I'll continue it._

_*Guest:* Thank you._

_*Guest:* Hn._

_*Guest:* Don't worry, I'm not out of ideas yet. The Sasuke Retrieval Arc is gonna be pretty hard to write though..._

_10000 Fists: That is a very good point. This reviewer says that Hinata 'raiding a Hyuuga jutsu library is untenable.' I couldn't agree more, but Hinata didn't 'raid' it. As a Hyuuga, she has full access to any jutsu library they have, much like Sasuke learning the Fire Release before he became a Genin. And of course, most of the scrolls Hinata would take would be for Wind and Water Release ninjutsu, stuff that has no connection to the Hyuuga bloodline, therefore stuff the Hyuuga wouldn't object to her sharing with Naruto. And thanks for teaching me a new word, by the way. I looked up 'untenable.' :)_

X

Ino blinked. "You want me to do what? I think I heard you wrong."

She, Naruto and Hinata were all gathered in the Uzumaki Clan's mansion, which was originally secluded outside Konoha's walls, but when the Kyuubi destroyed the original Konoha, the village was rebuilt to include the manor. Naruto and Hinata had taken a seat on a wooden trunk, the lid of which bore the kanji for fire.

Hinata shook her head. "No, you heard right. We need you to put me in Naruto's inner world with a Yamanaka Clan jutsu. It would make more sense if you had the whole story, but..." she shrugged. "Let's just say it's private."

"Um... what exactly are you guys planning to do in Naruto's head? 'Cause the only jutsu I know for something like this will put me in there too."

"Ah, screw it," Naruto sighed. "Ino, the Kyuubi no Kitsune is sealed inside me, in a cage in my subconscious." he lifted up his shirt and displayed the Eight Trigrams Seal. "The three of us have all agreed, Hinata should meet him."

Ino simply stared for a moment at his chest, then exploded, "Are you two nuts!? That's gotta be dangerous!"

_Now you see it, _Kurama growled. _Your friends are the exception to the rule. Few among your kind are so open-minded._

"The Kyuubi just said he thinks most people aren't open-minded enough."

_What? Don't, I'm talking to you, not her!_

"Open-minded? No, I'm not that open-minded, you're talking about bringing _Hinata_, sweet and innocent Hinata, to a freaking _demon_!"

_'Demon' is an extremely biased term. I was born here in the human world, not any kind of underworld, and in fact my father was human._

"The Kyuubi says-" Naruto cut himself off and shuddered.

_What... the hell... was that? _Kurama asked, and Naruto could hear the shock in his voice.

Hinata maintained a friendly expression, even while pouring out an aura of such malice that it could barely even be called something as simple as murderous intent. "If 'sweet and innocent' is your only objection," she said, very sweetly and innocently, "Please don't worry. I'll be fine."

Ino gasped in shock when the panic that was pressing her down suddenly vanished. "O-Okay. All right, hold still." she looked down and carefully, slowly formed the proper seal sequence, since her hands were still shaking. "N-Ninja Art: Mind Meeting Jutsu."

X

"Thank you, Ino-chan," Hinata said with a grateful smile. "And I'm sorry for using that genjutsu on you."

"G-Genjutsu?" Ino repeated, wide-eyed. "That's what that was?"

"It simulates killing intent. I'm not fond of it," she admitted, "but when the situation calls for it..." she trailed off, and looked around the brightly lit field of grass. "Naruto-kun, this is your subconscious? It's so peaceful..."

Naruto shrugged. "Honestly, this is just a picture. I can change it if I want, look." he snapped his fingers, and the field was replaced by a white, sandy beach; a perfect replica of the one they'd relaxed on yesterday.

Ino whistled. "Cool." Then, she jumped and looked around. _The Kyuubi lives here! It could be right behind me... _she turned, and found that she was twenty feet from the cage that housed a clearly visible and clearly relaxed Kyuubi.

"Welcome," the demon greeted with a forcibly polite tone. "Naruto, I told you. Humans aren't strong enough in mind and soul to accept the existence of my kind. They hate us. My presence in your world is a personal insult to them."

"That's not true," Hinata immediately replied, and made her way to the cage. "If it were, everyone in Konoha would hate you, and most don't. Sure, they're afraid. They resent you for killing their families. Given the chance they'd probably kill you, so that you'd never destroy Konoha again, but all of that is because you attacked us."

Kurama leaned down to look Hinata in the eye. "Yet you show none of those emotions."

"Naruto-kun told me about you. He told me why _you_ hate _us_." Hinata looked down sadly. "How could I show you more of the same hate?" she looked up again, and continued, "You're not a monster or a demon. You started out good, but we were afraid of your power, we shunned you, and in return you resented us. And then you realized, you had the power to do something about it. Is that right?"

Kurama snarled, and lunged forward, bringing his left eye as close as possible to Hinata. "It wasn't me that started all of this. Don't imply that. Your ancestors sought me out and chased me away. In the beginning I allowed it, even though their spears and swords would do little to me I _willingly_ left! Then, 'adventurers' came after me, aiming to slay me as a testament of skill. Some of those had white eyes like yours, the early Byakugan. Still I let them live, but my patience grew thin, and in time, I became angry. I went to your cities, and demanded first an explanation, then an apology, then compensation for centuries of abuse. In the end, when they refused all of that, I took what best could satisfy me. Blood."

Kurama roared, "And then, you all took it as justification! 'The beast was evil all along, and now it shows its true nature! Kill it, with blades, with ninjutsu! Turn its brothers and sisters against it!' The Tailed Beasts were goaded into hating _each other_, on _your_ behalf! I haven't talked with Shukaku or Matatabi in _five hundred years, _my youngest brother and sister, because of _you_! And your kind!"

"Still, that wasn't enough. I hadn't yet suffered enough for you. And so, the _Uzumaki_, masters of fuinjutsu," Kurama glared at Naruto, "were commisioned to seal me inside one of their own." The Nine-Tails sighed loudly, and continued, "Mito was cold to me, yes, but in the end, she wasn't such a terrible host. She accepted that I was her enemy, and likewise she was mine, but there was... less _hate _between us than there could have been. And of course, just as things got better, as I began to accept my new life inside Mito, Madara Uchiha came along."

"That man was the embodiment of hate. He tore me out of Mito and subjugated me with his Sharingan, he turned me into a weapon! As a test run, he commanded me to level the Land of Whirlpools, then led me to Konoha. And who but the Hokage would arrive to stop me? He defeated Madara, brought me before Mito Uzumaki and sealed me inside her once more. How could she not hate me, by that point? I was doomed, by that point, to fall through the Uzumaki line, Jinchuuriki after Jinchuuriki who would always hate me for the destruction of Uzushio."

Kurama paused. "But then, of course, that expectation was violated by my second host, Kushina. That woman... Naruto's mother... she never hesitated to scream right back at me when I called for blood. She tried to count herself as an equal to me, so she talked to me. In time, she too grew close to me. I might have even counted her as a companion, not a host, but before that could happen, Madara returned, Sharingan glowing once more, and released me. He commanded me once more to destroy Konoha. Kushina begged, actually begged Madara... Tobi, as he called himself, to stop, but no. I laid waste to this village. AGAINST MY WILL!"

"But the Fourth Hokage confronted Madara, defeated him, and released me from his control. By that point, I was locked in battle with every remaining ninja in the village. I reveled in my hate," the Bijuu snarled at Hinata, who by now refused to make eye contact. "I kept destroying your home village, until the Hokage came for me, with an infant in his arms, and Kushina at his side. They attacked me together, and sealed me in here. Twelve years now, I've been locked away in a third Jinchuuriki."

Kurama turned, then, to Naruto. "After all that... do you think one little human being polite to me, will just erase all of the hatred in my heart?"

Ino slumped into a sitting position, sinking a bit into the soft sand. "Every word of that... it was true," she whispered shakily. "No one can tell a lie through the Mind Meeting Jutsu."

"And?" Kurama turned to her, growling. "What does it matter?"

"So all of those terrible things... really happened to you!" she sobbed, shocking the Kyuubi. "You r-really felt that way... a-all those centuries... and it was n-never your _fault_!" Ino slouched forward and held her head in her hands, shivering. "And I called you a _demon_."

"All the more reason," Hinata replied, "To keep it from happening again."

Slowly, the Nine-Tails took a step back. Its tails stilled, and sank silently into the sandy floor of its cage. "...Get away. All of you." Kurama shook his head, and clenched his eyes shut. "I don't want to hear this anymore. GET OUT!"

Ino flinched, and clasped her hands together in a seal. "R-Release," she whispered, and vanished from Naruto's mind, along with Hinata.

Naruto made his way to where Hinata had been standing, directly in front of the lock on the cage. "What the hell, Kurama? They were showing you they actually _cared_, and you lost it! Why?"

"This is wrong!" Kurama roared back at him. "All of it! Hate me! Like you're supposed to! HATE ME!"  
Kurama threw a brutal genjutsu at his host, trapping him in a vision of Konoha being levelled. He saw his infant self being carried into bloody battle, Kurama attacking his parents, drawing their blood with fatal wounds, aiming to kill Naruto himself. He saw Kushina die first, as Minato sealed all of her remaining chakra into Naruto, then Kurama vanished at the same time the Fourth Hokage collapsed in death.

"HATE ME!"

He saw an illusion of Kurama closing in on Hinata, alone and unarmed, visibly drained of chakra and screaming weakly in horror. As Kurama raised its claws to rip her apart, Naruto swept aside the genjutsu with a brutal pulse of his own mental force.

"HATE ME!" Kurama roared a third time, and Naruto glared back at him.

"Shut the hell up!" he strode forward, passing the threshold of the cage, and kept moving toward the Kyuubi, who opened his maw to fire a Tailed Beast Ball. Using the godly power Naruto had over his own mind, he backhanded the attack apart harmlessly, and kept approaching. Kurama began retreating backward, and Naruto raised his right hand in a fist.

"I still don't hate you," he declared, as Kurama found himself pressed against the back of his cage. "I'm barely even angry. I'm _hurt_. Hurt that you still _want_ me to hate you!"

He kept walking forward. "GET BACK!" Kurama screamed, and formed another, much larger, Tailed Beast Ball, which Naruto again destroyed. "GET AWAY!" The Kyuubi squeezed its eyes shut.

"Move past this, you _idiot_!" Naruto shouted back. "Move on with your life! You've got a chance to make your life better for the rest of eternity, don't throw that away because you're afraid of a change!"

He punched Kurama in the snout, which did absolutely no damage. The fox opened its eyes reluctantly. "I want to help you," Naruto continued sadly, "I really do. But I can't if you won't let me! So make up your damn mind, you stupid fox! Do you really _want _to live in hatred forever?"

The Nine-Tails replied, after a long pause, "...No. No, I don't." he looked away from his third Jinchuuriki, and slumped, laying down at the edge of his cage. "Tell Hinata and Ino, I..." he paused, and shook. "I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have chased them away. They meant well."

"Alright," Naruto replied, and gently laid a hand on Kurama's muzzle. "I'll get you out of here one day, believe it. But first we gotta get the world ready, ya know? When I let you out, I don't want Konoha's entire army jumping you, and I don't want you stepping on them. But when the time comes, I won't hesitate. I'll let you out into the real world, I swear."

X

Hinata jumped when Naruto finally resurfaced in the real world. His eyes opened, and he blinked a few times. "Thanks for the help with that, Ino-chan," he smiled, then added, "Kyuubi-san wanted me to tell you both he's sorry."

"Sorry?" Hinata and Ino repeated together.

_For chasing them away. They did nothing wrong._

"For chasing you away," Naruto repeated. "You didn't do anything wrong."

_And I'd like to thank them for showing me sympathy._

"Now he wants me to thank you for showing him that you care."

"You can hear his thoughts that clearly?" Hinata questioned, and Naruto nodded.

"He can hear you guys too... Now that I think if it, we could've just done this, instead of bringing Ino-chan into it..."

"Oh, crap!" Ino yelped suddenly, having spotted Naruto's alarm clock. "I have a date with K- I mean, I'm supposed to meet a friend in like ten minutes!" She jumped up from where she'd been sitting and made for the door. "Sorry guys, I gotta go!" Before anyone could reply, Ino was out the door.

"Ehh... what the hell was that about?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Ino-chan..." Hinata said slowly, "is dating someone whose name begins with a 'K.'" She blushed. "And we only know one person in our age group who has a name beginning with 'K.'"

Naruto blinked. "Kiba?"

Hinata nodded. "It's my only guess, but..." she glanced to the door. "Ino-chan didn't want to tell us, so we shouldn't be trying to figure it out behind her back."

"Ow! What the hell?" Naruto and Hinata both glanced to where Ino's voice was coming from. She quickly reentered the room, and called, "Hey, there's a barrier ninjutsu in the hallway! I can't get through!"

The two Team Eight Genin paled. "We're locked in here?"

"Ah, come on!" Ino groaned. "Don't say it like a line from a cheesy horror movie!"

Naruto smirked against his will, then grew serious again. "Who would wanna capture one of us? The first one that comes to mind is Orochimaru, who wants my eyes. I don't think anyone's angry enough at you to try this, Ino-chan..."

"When I was younger, Kumo once tried to kidnap me for my Byakugan," Hinata suggested. "But I doubt it's them again. It's probably Orochimaru, or more likely one of his followers. Byakugan!" She finished, and glanced around the room. "I don't see anyone in the manor... Wait! There, on the roof. But... that's Mizuki-sensei. I can see his chakra flowing, he's definitely holding up the barrier."

"Damn it. We can't let him choose where we fight." Naruto gritted his teeth. _Mizuki-sensei, I knew there was something wrong about you. _"Ino, I'm gonna get you out of here. Hinata, let's take this guy down!" he slapped together a few seals, and glanced up at the ceiling.

"Naruto, what are you-"

"Air Bullet!" Naruto punched upward, blowing the roof overhead apart. "Ino, go get help!" She nodded, and leapt away through the hole in the building. "Rinnegan!" His doujutsu flared over his normal eyes, showing him the chakra and natural energy in his field of vision.

"Damn it," Mizuki snarled, and abandoned his efforts to maintain the barrier. "Demon brat." he blurred through a much longer seal sequence, and called, "Diamond Dome Jutsu."

Naruto glanced out the window over his shoulder, and his Rinnegan showed him a clear barrier of chakra encasing the entire building. Ino just barely flew past its edges before it cut off an inch of the blonde hair trailing behind her.

Hinata jumped up through the hole in the roof, and took up a Gentle Fist stance where Mizuki could see her. "What do you want with Naruto and I?" she asked angrily. Naruto released the sword in his ring, and placed himself at her side.

"Well, first I'm gonna kill him. Then I'll rip his eyes out of his head. I'll sell one to Orochimaru, and keep the other for myself." Mizuki grinned. "And hey, seeing as you're here, I'll take a Byakugan too. I won't be coming back here when I leave, so why not piss off more of this backwater village?"

"You-" Naruto stepped forward, but Hinata extended an arm into his path, surprising him.

"Naruto-kun, I want to go first," she declared, and Naruto nodded after a moment, stepping back. Hinata glared at Mizuki, and assumed a stance of a much higher Gentle Fist level. "Mizuki Tora, you have betrayed the Hidden Leaf Village. You've conspired with a missing-nin, and for that alone, you are now a missing-nin yourself. For that, I would have the legal right to summarily execute you right now. But you continued. You threatened me, and the one I love most. Your life is forfeit to me."

Mizuki started laughing, quite loudly. "Fucking Genin think they're all gods of war," he observed after he calmed down. "I'm gonna enjoy this." He reached for one of the two Fuuma Shuriken on his back, still baring his teeth in a grin.

"Gentle Fist Art." his eyes widened as Hinata blurred forward, and slapped her open hands into his chest. "Two Palms!" his arm fell limp back down to his side, and Hinata locked eyes with him, glaring with her intimidating doujutsu. "Four Palms, Eight Palms, Sixteen Palms!" she took a deep breath, and resisted the urge to recklessly continue her attack, then leapt back to Naruto's side.

"Brats," Mizuki snarled, and triggered his brand-new Cursed Seal. "I can't believe I have to use this already." the senjutsu chakra flushed through his tenketsu, restoring them to full functionality, and he stood.

He whipped out and let fly his first shuriken. Hinata ducked, but noted the speed and power behind the throw, and immediately spotted the second shuriken in the shadow of the first with her Byakugan. She rolled to the side, dodging it as well, and jumped back to her feet. _He's faster now. That seal... it's a lot like the one Orochimaru put on Naruto-kun. It fills him with energy harvested from nature, and apparently it can counter a Gentle Fist strike to sixteen or more tenketsu. But that's just fine. I have more weapons at my disposal._

Hinata clenched her right fist, and suddenly remembered the bronze ring on her finger. _I can use the spear later, but for now, I know exactly how to counter his shuriken._

Mizuki reached into one of the pockets on his flak jacket to produce a scroll filled with storage seals. He laid it at his feet and pulled out a third Fuuma Shuriken from within, then threw it.

"Shinra Tensei," Naruto called, with his hands reaching for the shuriken, pushing it back. Mizuki caught it, and was pushed away another twenty feet.

"Protection of the Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms."

Naruto grinned. _She must've finished it recently. Her ultimate defence... maybe it was when I was learning kenjutsu..._

Hinata closed her eyes, and the rooftop beneath her feet began to glow green. Mizuki's eyes narrowed at the sight of this unfamiliar jutsu, but he threw his shuriken, and Hinata's eyes immediately opened. She held out her hands in the direction of the approaching weapon, and a grid of glowing green chakra threads intercepted the Fuuma Shuriken, slicing it into dozens of useless pieces that scattered at Hinata's feet.

"That... is... _awesome!_" Naruto exclaimed gleefully, forgetting Mizuki for a moment. Hinata smiled, and the rest of the dome-shaped grid became visible around her. Naruto grinned as he realized he was within her field of protection.

Mizuki drew two more shuriken from his scroll, one in each hand, and whipped them at the field of lasers. As he predicted, they were also cut to pieces, but he was already reaching for more. "This laser grid thing is pretty effective, I'll admit, but there's no way you can keep up with me." using the boost of speed from his Cursed Seal, Mizuki threw dozens of shuriken at the grid. Just as he intended, the grid's chakra threads clustered together to cut apart the shuriken, leaving small openings in other spots. _There! _Mizuki spotted a hole of the right size, and used the Body Flicker Jutsu to dive through it headfirst.

His last shuriken, held as a melee weapon, was met by Naruto's cutlass. The Jinchuuriki had jumped between Hinata and Mizuki, knowing his cutlass would stop Mizuki's shuriken. The rogue Chuunin's feet hit the ground, giving him leverage to push Naruto back. The boy's physical strength couldn't possibly match that of a Chuunin with a Cursed Seal. "You gotta know by now, I'm just toying with you two brats. I know pretty much every kinjutsu this village has produced. Mulitple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto mustered the strength to shove Mizuki back, even as a hundred copies of the rogue Chuunin appeared to surround Hinata's personal Gentle Fist ninjutsu. Weakened, Mizuki retreated a few steps and popped a soldier pill into his mouth. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." A single clone appeared next to Mizuki, then dispelled itself to spread the soldier pill's chakra amongst all one-hundred and one remaining Mizukis.

"Tell me, Nine-Tails, do you know any kinjutsu?" Mizuki asked Naruto. "Some of them fit perfectly together when used in a sequence. For instance, a Shadow Clone can cut itself, drawing chakra-infused blood." One hundred Mizukis slashed their Fuuma Shuriken across their wrists. The clones all made the same hand seal, and roared in stereo, "Fire Release: Burning Blood Sacrifice!"

Hinata's Byakugan eyes widened, watching serpents of crimson flame form from the shed blood of the clones. "Naruto, I can't stop a fire jutsu like this with chakra threads. And a hundred of them..." The snakes coiled in the air above the vanishing clones, preparing to strike.

"It's all right." Naruto's Rinnegan gave off a faint purple light. "Asura Path! Forge Level One!" A wall of rapidly hardening liquid metal rose around them to stop the first attack of the fire snakes. It grew into a dome that held Naruto and Hinata in near-absolute darkness.

_This'll only hold 'em off for a moment, _Naruto noted silently. The weak metal was already glowing with heat from their first hit, giving off the only light in the dome, and the snakes were still ramming into the metal again and again. Naruto started a new sequence of seals. "I have a jutsu that'll get us out of here, but I never thought I'd use it like this," he admitted. "Ninja Art: Seal Summoning Jutsu."

Hinata blinked, watching a massive green slate chest appear in front of Naruto. "What is that?" she asked, and Naruto lifted up the thin stone lid of the trunk.

Inside was most of the Uzumaki Clan fortune, several sheathed cutlasses, and two dozen Hiraishin kunai. Between the surface of the gold and weaponry, and the lid, there was room for four people. Naruto climbed into the chest, and his feet sank a few inches into the gold coins. "Come on!" he called, and Hinata leapt into the chest, laying down next to him. Naruto closed the lid as quickly as he could, then made another hand seal, and returned the stone chest to where he'd concealed it under the tiles around his pool.

Hinata's Byakugan saw through the lid of the chest, showing her an enraged and confused Mizuki on the roof above them. "How did we get here?"

"I marked this trunk with a fuinjutsu, so I can teleport it to me, then back to its original location here." Naruto shrugged, and the gold coins under his shoulders clinked. "You know, I only finished it the day before yesterday."

"And now Mizuki has no idea where we are," Hinata noted. "We can ambush him through the roof."

Naruto pushed open the lid of the chest, lifting the panel of the floor above it as well, then sat up and said, "I can't see one solid object through another, but I can see Mizuki's chakra like a light shining through the walls, and that's enough. He just popped another soldier pill."

"The best way to attack him would be directly from below," Hinata mused. "I could tear up the roof beneath him with a thrown Rasengan, and hope to catch him in the blast."

"The first attack is always a feint," Naruto murmured to himself, quoting Shikamaru.

Hinata glanced at the pool. "That's right... We have the perfect weapon to use. I'll use the Water Dragon Bullet, but I'll make it move through the house, down here, then move up through the roof and chase Mizuki to the spot above us..."

"...Then throw a Rasengan at the roof he's standing on!" Naruto caught on, "And he'll fall into the pool down here. He'll be disoriented for a moment, and then, we'll hit him with everything we've got!"

Hinata nodded, and began swiping her hands through the longest seal sequence she knew. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu," she murmured, and the serpent rose out of the pool, growling softly.

Mizuki checked the integrity of the barrier around the Uzumaki Clan estate. It had required most of his Cursed Seal's chakra to prepare, but he'd laid it in advance and allowed his seal to refill with natural energy. The barrier, Mizuki noted, was perfectly intact; nothing had broken through.

He knew he was running out of time, however. Soon, ANBU and Jounin would be sent by the Hokage, once Ino got to him, and the barrier wouldn't hold out against them. At least one would recognize the material of the dome as diamond, and know that diamonds can be burned with fire or a Fire Release jutsu.

A Water Dragon Bullet exploded through the roof and lunged at him, roaring. "Shit!" Mizuki snarled, and retreated, leaping away from the dragon. _A Water Dragon Bullet from a Genin? Most Chuunin don't even have enough chakra to fuel a jutsu like this... but that Hyuuga kid might have the chakra control to do this with perfect efficiency... Damn it, I might have to take this seriously-_

The roof under his feet exploded the moment he landed on it. He was thrown another twenty feet into the air, and his eyes widened with shock when he glimpsed Naruto shoot past him, cutlass already in hand. The younger shinobi twisted in midair to look down at Mizuki, and reached for the mansion with his free left hand. "Banshou Tenin!" he called.

Rather than pulling the huge building toward himself, Naruto was yanked toward it by the Rinnegan jutsu, far faster than Mizuki was already falling. The freshly minted missing-nin saw Naruto speeding down toward him with his sword poised to cut him in two, and he intercepted the strike with his last Fuuma Shuriken, wielded in his right hand.

Naruto's jutsu shot them both together into the pool, cracking the bottom of it with Mizuki's back. Mizuki looked around, seeing nothing but white frothing bubbles and swirling water, but Naruto's Rinnegan showed him the silhouette of chakra flowing through Mizuki, even if he was blind to everything else. The Jinchuuriki pumped chakra throughout his limbs, and kicked off of the pool's floor, surging up into the air above the pool.

"Wind Release: Wind Scar!" Naruto roared, and slashed his sword through the open air, forming it into blades which tore through the water and lacerated the stone floor beneath. He landed at the edge of the pool, and grinned. "I think that did it, Hina-chan."

Mizuki roared, and exploded up out of the water. His Fuuma Shuriken was scratched and scarred; apparently he'd used it to block one or two blades of the Wind Scar. He landed on the surface of the water, furious, and reached for Naruto and Hinata with one hand each. "Summoning Jutsu," he snarled.

Naruto croaked in shock and pain, when he suddenly found himself in front of Mizuki, with the latter's extended hand around his throat. Hinata was in a similar predicament. "No more fucking around," Mizuki said with a glare aimed at Naruto, then lifted them both from the surface of the water. He jumped into the air, then threw both Genin downward.

Naruto felt the stone crack under his back when he struck it, and when his breath was knocked out of his lungs, he saw it rise through the water as a series of bubbles that joined the myriad others in the water. He turned his head painfully, and saw Hinata floating slowly upward with her eyes closed.

Just before he might have completely lost his mind, Kurama warned him quietly, _Hinata is alive. You can still see her chakra; you know she'll be fine. She hasn't yet breathed in any water; you still have time. _

Naruto nodded, though no one saw it. He curled into a lazy sitting position on the bottom of the pool, and aimed his right hand, now disarmed, at Hinata.

The Hyuuga princess's eyes shot open before he could use his Rinnegan jutsu. He'd intended to use Banshou Tenin to grab Hinata, then Shinra Tensei to fly upward with her, but that clearly wasn't necessary. She turned to him silently, and nodded, then swam into an upright position to kick off of the bottom of the thoroughly ruined pool.

Rather than use chakra control to stand on the water's surface, Hinata began to tread water, forming a Rasengan as she did. Mizuki noticed this, but couldn't think of any explanation for why she wouldn't stand. _I know I can do this, _Hinata decided, and finished her Rasengan. _All it takes is a large enough mass of water. I can do this!_

She touched the Rasengan to the surface of the water, still sloshing violently around her and Mizuki from the repeated jutsu striking it. The water slowly began to whip around her in a perfect, circular whirlpool. Naruto, still underwater, was shoved by the water currents into a corner of the pool. He knew what would come next, and decided to use Shinra Tensei. He coughed water as he surfaced, and stood shakily at the edge of the pool.

Mizuki smirked briefly at the injured Uzumaki, but quickly directed his attention back to Hinata, whose feet had now touched the bottom of the pool. _What the hell is this kid doing? _

Naruto grinned when he saw a three-foot circle at Hinata's feet be wiped clean of water. "Ya know, Hina-chan," he whispered quietly, "You really are incredible."

_If I was an Uzumaki, _Hinata noted, _I'd be a legal adult from this moment on. _The Rasengan turned blue in her hand, and formed a bubble-like sphere of clear, blue-green chakra around itself. _I did it! _"Water Release: _Rasengan!_" She roared, and raised the jutsu to throw it at Mizuki.

_I don't think I'd survive getting hit by that, _Mizuki decided, and jumped through the sunlit hole in the roof. Hinata tracked his movement with the Byakugan, and lobbed the Water Rasengan at him. _Shit! _He tried to twist out of the way, but the attack still scraped up along the front of his legs, past his waist and chest, doing minimal damage until it struck his chin, where it exploded.

Mizuki was thrown headfirst across the entire manor, and he struck the far side of his ninjutsu barrier. He heard a few of his bones crunch, but he could still stand. He turned and saw Naruto and Hinata still following him. His Cursed Seal began repairing his body, snapping broken bones back into alignment, but he spotted a second blue sphere in Hinata's distant hand, and made his decision.

"Screw this, I''m outta here," he growled, and let the barrier fall so he could pass.

He turned to run, only to meet a fist wrapped in red flames that slammed into his jaw, fracturing it in three places. Kiba kicked him in the ribs as he tried to stand, breaking two of those as well. "You bastard," Kiba growled, "I could pretty much smell how_ low_ you were, at the Academy. Spineless, heartless." Mizuki crawled away, trying to stand, and Kiba let him. "I'm gonna kill you, and I'm gonna like it."

"No," Gaara rasped, "If anyone gets that satisfaction, it will be me. But first..." his sand wrapped around Mizuki, and held him immobile. Only his head was left exposed. "Tell me, Mizuki Tora... Hokage-sama deduced you've read the Scroll of Seals. Is that true?"

Mizuki nodded, looking around with horror at the gathered ninja; Kiba, Gaara, Temari, Kankurou, Ino, Asuma and Baki.

"The Eight Trigrams Seal is written in that scroll. The perfect seal for containing a Tailed Beast. Did you know, Naruto Uzumaki bears that seal?" Gaara pulled Mizuki, and the sand containing him, closer. "After I bring you to your Hokage-sama, I will see to it that I or Naruto learn that jutsu. If I have to torture the information from you, I will do so." Gaara smirked evilly. "In fact, let me show you how I'll begin. Sand Coffin."

Mizuki howled as his elbows and knees were snapped backward, dislocated. "Given proper medical attention, that damage won't be permanent," Gaara growled, "but now you can't escape me. And it _hurts_, doesn't it? Come with me," the One-Tailed Jinchuuriki commanded, and turned to leave. The sand holding Mizuki floated behind him, taking with it the missing-nin inside.

"...Whoa," Kiba commented, as Gaara left.

"He used to be a lot worse than that," Temari noted sadly, then cheered up. "But your friend Naruto's already changing him. He called me nee-chan last night." she glanced past Kiba, at the now badly-damaged mansion. "Let's go get your friends."

Kiba nodded with a grin, then spotted Naruto and Hinata, approaching on the roof. "Hey, guys!" Kiba waved, and his fellow members of Team Eight leapt from the roof to join the group of shinobi.

"Yo, Kiba," Naruto greeted, grinning. "You should've seen Hina-chan; she was amazing, believe it!"

Hinata barely, just barely blushed. "You really think so?"

"You kicked Mizuki-teme's ass and destroyed half of my house! It was awesome!" Naruto replied enthusiastically.

"It wasn't half of the house, just a few holes in it, but I'm sorry about that," Hinata said with a wince.

"Eh, don't worry about it. I can fix it in a couple of days with my Asura Path," Naruto shrugged. "It's pretty much the Yin Release, ya know?"

"Yin Release?" Kiba questioned.

Naruto nodded. "Creating something from nothing using chakra. I looked it up. It goes with the Yang Release, to bring inanimate objects to life, and that makes the Yin-Yang Release. That's how the Sage of Six Paths created the Bijuu."

X

"Hokage-sama," Gaara intoned quietly, "The others are still at the Uzumaki Clan mansion. I brought Mizuki here alone."

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe grimly. "Thank you, Gaara. Your father Kazekage-sama will want to see Mizuki interrogated immediately... If we're to ally against Oto for this treason-"

"The Fourth Kazekage is dead." Gaara watched Sarutobi's eyes widen. "I thought you knew... Orochimaru killed him shortly before we were sent into the Forest of Death."

"No, that's..." The Third Hokage slumped into his chair. "I spoke with him, this morning..."

"My father was fond of concealing his face with a cowl under his Kage hat," Gaara replied. "The man you've spoken to is an impostor."

"Orochimaru is known to possess a jutsu for stealing a slain victim's face..." Sarutobi scowled. "That must be how he's doing this."

Gaara closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. "He means to kill you. There's no doubt about that."

"The two of us are meant to sit alongside each other in the Chuunin Exam finals," Sarutobi replied. "We'll be spectators-"

"I know. My father allied himself with Oto in a plot to attack Konoha when that day comes. I've already informed my Jounin sensei Baki to call off that attack; it's clear that Orochimaru has been influencing my father."

Gaara blinked as a thought occured to him. "Now I can have what I want," he mused. "Hokage-sama. I strongly suggest you arrange a fight between myself and Naruto Uzumaki as quickly as possible. In exchange, I will stand at your side in the finals, and Naruto will likely do the same. Both of us carry demons within us; we'll be powerful allies. And yet, we're still Genin, less likely to tip off Orochimaru than a full squad of ANBU."

The Hokage nodded. "We can turn Orochimaru's plan against him, with this. Suna will call off its attack, leaving Oto alone on the battlefield, or better yet, help Konoha strike them down. Meanwhile, Orochimaru will try to assassinate me, and you two will help me stop him. Together we can take him down... after all these years..."

"But you must arrange for Naruto to fight me before then," Gaara insisted.

"I... suppose I can have that done..." Sarutobi turned his gaze back to Mizuki. "But for now, I need to deal with this traitor. The sooner we start wringing information out of him, the better."

"Fuck that," Mizuki barked, and the Cursed Seal of Earth that had spread over his body began to glow fiery orange. The marks faded into his skin, which turned deep brown, and his eyes glowed crimson.

"Sand Coffin," Gaara replied, and clenched both of his hands into fists, but Mizuki threw his arms into the air, breaking free of the sand.

The Hokage pulled off his hat and cloak in one smooth motion, revealing the armored shinobi uniform he wore underneath. He took a defensive taijutsu stance, but Mizuki shot past him, smashing through the wall behind his desk. A cloud of debris that had once been a wall obscured the path he'd used to flee, and while Sarutobi immediately followed Mizuki through, he stopped once he passed the dust cloud. Mizuki was already gone.

The Hokage sighed. "I should've seen that coming... the Flying Thunder God Jutsu was written in the Scroll of Seals. Mizuki would surely have learned it before he even returned the original scroll."

"Original?" Gaara repeated.

"Of course. Why would he have returned the first scroll, without copying everything written in it onto a duplicate?"

Gaara gazed into the dust cloud thoughtfully. "Orochimaru sent Mizuki after Naruto. It's obvious why; he still wants the Rinnegan. And that power Mizuki used... a Cursed Seal. He's an investment on Orochimaru's part, and that means..."

"...It means Orochimaru will give Mizuki a second chance to capture or kill Naruto," the Hokage finished grimly. "A second chance for us to capture him."

"Next time, I'll be certain to remove his limbs completely. It should take him longer to regenerate them, rather than just fixing the joints." Gaara said this with a disturbingly calm voice, and Sarutobi noticed. Gaara caught the appraising, concerned look from the Hokage, and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing," Sarutobi replied hastily, and looked away.

"Ah. I see." Gaara turned to look at the door. "An ordinary Genin my age would be unable to say something like that. I unnerved you. I'm... trying to change, now that I know the true nature of my condition, but I have so little to work with. I don't know what someone with any warmth inside them would say or do." he made for the door, and continued firmly, "But I _will_ learn. I'll find that warmth, eventually." _I won't let you keep me from that, Shukaku. _

**Please Review!**


	14. Exam Phase Three!

_I really do need to explain what happened last chapter:_

_Mizuki does not know the Hiraishin. He knows a high-speed travel jutsu, similar to the Shunshin, that was fast enough to have the Hokage, in the heat of the moment, mistake it for the Hiraishin until after the chapter ended, at which point he looked through the Scroll of Seals to make a list of jutsu Mizuki could have possibly used._

_We'll call this Zabuza's Theorem: When a character makes a guess or deduction, don't just assume they're right._

_As for Mizuki creating a hundred shadow clones, I cite Eliezer's First Law of Fanfiction: You can't make Frodo a Jedi unless you give Sauron the Death Star. In Naruto terms, this translates to You can't give Naruto the Rinnegan unless Orochimaru gets a Scroll of Seals and a powerful new minion, as a start. Mizuki is stronger because Naruto is stronger. For reference, the (First) Three Laws of Fanfiction can be found on my profile._

_That said, I made a terrible mistake for not giving any kind of warning that something like this would come up. Out of nowhere, the first and weakest villain in the entire series can spam clones the same way Canon!Naruto does, with no explanation or prior warning. That was stupid and I hope you guys can forgive me for my error._

_Reviews came from *TL,* *Guest,* Musical cake, randumbdave, *Guest,* NaruHinafanficfan1, *Guest,* foggraven, imortalshadows, *CW,* *awesome guy,* griffin blackwood, and Elizerc._

_*TL:* I read on the Narutopedia that shadow clones can bleed, but seeing as it doesn't happen often (Sarutobi's clones bled in his fight against Orochimaru) my guess is it has something to do with the clone seeing the hit coming and bracing for it. A clone injuring itself would surely be ready for it._

_*Guest:* Yes, you're right. I take back what I said in chapter 1; Naruto is currently much stronger than in canon, but I wouldn't say overpowered. If he's overpowered his opponents can't win, but for instance Orochimaru handed his ass to him. As for soldier pills, taking more than one in a fight tends to slowly poison the user. Mizuki knows this, but the effects can be counteracted if he wins his fights in time. It's a risk he's willing to take._

_Musical cake: Thanks, that means a lot._

_randumbdave: Tobirama actually did invent the original Hiraishin from which the Hiraishingiri is derived. The only confirmed jutsu in the Scroll of Seals are Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Eight Trigrams Seal, so I had to think of something else to fill that hugeass scroll._

_Guest: I know. Hinata found out in a matter of days. They worked on his chakra control to get around it._

_NaruHinafanficfan1: You are the only person who actually asked if maybe the Hokage was wrong, kudos._

_*Guest:* You're absolutely right. Even with the power boost I've given him, Mizuki wouldn't be able to perform the Hiraishin._

_foggraven: Neither do I._

_imortalshadows: There are seven Paths of the Rinnegan, counting the Outer Path. Naruto has the Outer, Deva, Asura and Human Paths, which leaves the Animal, Naraka and Preta Paths._

_*CW:* The Hiraishin is advanced space-time ninjutsu, like a much more complicated Summoning Jutsu you can use on yourself. It is indeed quite complicated, which Naruto has found out: he has the instructions for the Hiraishin in the Uzumaki Clan library._

_*awesome guy:* I don't think the Cursed Seal would help Mizuki use the Hiraishin. As far as I can tell, it's not especially chakra-draining since the Fourth Hokage could spam the hell out of it without draining his reserves. It's just difficult, it requires a lot of concentration and skill._

_griffin blackwood: Why, thank you._

_Elizerc: Okay, no problem._

X

Naruto woke to the sound of rain pouring down on his freshly repaired roof. At first, it was a pleasant sound, soothing, and he wrapped himself snugly in his blankets, relaxed and comfortable.

Then a flash of lightning lit up his bedroom through the window, and thunder shook Konoha. Naruto groaned loudly, and sat up to check the time.

A second flash of lightning lit up the face of the clock in his hand, and the thunder drowned out his cry of shock. "Ah, _crap_!" he roared, and threw himself out of bed. "The exam!" He threw on his bright orange jumpsuit, and his father's haori, then checked his ring and lunged for the kitchen. _The third stage of the Chuunin Exam starts in eight minutes. I gotta get going!_

He grabbed a package of dry instant ramen and made for the door in a flash, opening it just before he opened the door. The rain was falling in an ungodly downpour, and Naruto winced. "Dry ramen," he muttered, "isn't that bad, but dry ramen soaked in cold rainwater..." he shuddered, and closed the door, then opened the packet of seasoning that came with the ramen, and poured the powder over the dry noodles, still in the packaging. It took him less than a minute to wolf it down, and then he was out the door, leaving the empty package on the floor.

X

Gaara, meanwhile, glanced up at the sound of a third thunderclap overhead. "I... truly hate the rain," he declared quietly.

"At least we'll be fighting inside," Kankurou replied, nodding up to the ceiling.

Gaara nodded subtly in response. _If we were battling outside in the rain, my power over sand would be halved or worse. Not at all a fair test of my power against Naruto's... which reminds me... where is he? _"Where is he?" he growled quietly.

Temari and Kankurou were to his left, with Hinata and Kiba to his right. _If Naruto were to arrive, he would immediately come here to join us, _Gaara noted grimly. _And he isn't. He's late._

"Gaara," someone whispered from behind him. Gaara hadn't heard the man approach; hence he must have been a Chuunin or Jounin, judging by the silence of his footfalls. "Hokage-sama sent me to let you know your match has been postponed. Naruto Uzumaki isn't here."

"Ah... so he took up my offer. Good." Ever so briefly, Gaara cracked a smile. "Are the other matches still random?"

The Chuunin nodded, though Gaara couldn't see him. "Yes, although Hokage-sama initially wanted to match the Oto Genin against opponents best suited to defeat them, for instance-" he stopped abruptly, glancing up at the names flashing over a screen behind the Hokage. They stopped on "-Tenten and Dosu Kinuta," the Chuunin finished. "Footage from the Forest of Death showed the nature of his arm weapon, and that along with his skirmish with Naruto led us to conclude that a metal weapon can block his attacks."

"So 'Tenten' uses weapons, then," Gaara concluded. "No last name?"

"That's right," Tenten replied as she walked past him. "I have no clan name. Is that such a big deal?"

"So you're Tenten..." Gaara flashed what he hoped was a friendly smile. "Block his attacks, every single time, with a metal weapon. Never dodge."

Tenten gave him a confused look. _The hell was up with that psycho smile? _"...Uh, thanks." she stepped forward to confront Dosu, who hadn't been informed that she was a weapons specialist, hence didn't know what he was in for. He pulled back the sleeve over his right arm, revealing his weaponized bracer.

"Begin," Hayate Gekkou called, and Tenten immediately reached for one of her storage scrolls. She pulled out a jian, a weapon designed similarly to Orochimaru's Kusanagi, and readied herself to wield it in melee combat. _Normally I prefer throwing these weapons, but a jian's one of my better melee weapons, and this guy... let's see. He fought with Naruto Uzumaki before the first test. His bracer hit Naruto's sword and gave off a loud ringing sound. After that he retreated. I think it's a safe guess to make, that the ringing sound is his weapon, and hitting Naruto's sword made it unusable. And that Suna kid told me to block with a metal weapon..._

"So, I've been meaning to ask," Tenten began out loud, "What's with that arm thing?"

"Why should I tell you?" Dosu replied warily.

"Come on. One weapons expert to another."

"Begin," Hayate commanded.

"I'm better off just showing you." Dosu lunged, and Tenten's eyes widened. She dove forward as well, and slammed her sword into his bracer to stop whatever attack he'd been about to use. "...Damn it, another one who can block it," Dosu muttered, inaudible through the clanging noise that startled all of the spectators. _If I pull my punches, I can still hit her with the sound wave. _He retreated several yards, then moved to punch the air between Tenten and himself.

_That's not good! _Tenten thought frantically, and threw her sword aside, then screamed, "Substitution!"

Hinata's eyes widened, as Tenten swapped places with her sword, which shattered from Dosu's properly applied sound waves. _That's the same jutsu Naruto-kun and I came up with! But how could she use it, without a doujutsu?_

Dosu grimaced, remembering Naruto switching with Kabuto during their fight. "You remind me more and more of that blond kid with the sword," he noted, irritated.

"That jutsu you're using only travels in one direction," Tenten noted. "Otherwise I, along with everyone watching, would be pretty badly hurt right now. Weird, I thought sound waves went in all directions. You must be controlling them."

"So you've figured it out," Dosu replied grimly. "Yes, we use sound waves as a lethal weapon-" he paused, and swore under his breath.

Tenten blinked; at first she didn't get why he was upset, then she clued in. "Ah, so your _teammates _use sound-based jutsu too!" she called loudly, grinning.

"...Bitch," Dosu muttered.

_Okay, so I can dodge it at long range and block it at close range, but whenever I go to make an attack against him, I have to move straight at him, or maybe throw my weapons. Both leave me open for a moment, to his sound attack... But we learned in the first test that taking risks is a huge part of being a ninja. If I want to win, I've got to attack him!_

Tenten gritted her teeth, and whipped open her scroll of weapons, flinging a collection of roughly two dozen assorted blades at Dosu, who grinned under his bandages. He whipped his Melody Arm forward, using the sound waves generated by it to shatter these tools as he had with the jian. "Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious," Dosu began, "but this weapon of mine is an ideal defense as well as offense; you can't win."

"Pfft. If I was using elemental jutsu you'd be screwed," Tenten replied. "Fire would be great. I can see through a bluff that obvious."

"Are you being obnoxious for no reason, or are you trying to make me lose my cool?"

"Neither. If you actually beat me, I wanna make sure any of my friends you face know the weaknesses of that weapon you're carrying. Even if I don't make Chuunin, I still want Neji and Shino to move up, and if I can help them..." Tenten shrugged.

Then, without warning, she whipped a kunai at him as she began her next sentence. Dosu dodged, but the blade scraped past his bandaged cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. "That's why I'm shouting out any weaknesses I notice in you! I'm hoping someone clues in!" By this point, all of the Genin watching were taking mental notes, while still watching Tenten's battle with fascination.

"Interrupting yourself in the middle of your own speech to attack," Dosu noted. "It's startling, how few ninja think of that." He punched forward, and Tenten nullified his sound wave with a thrown shuriken before it left his arm, following up with a yari spear. Dosu's visible eye widened, and he lurched to the side to dodge.

Gaara said quietly to Temari and Kankurou, "Dosu's movements are stiff and forced. He's almost certainly injured under those bandages."

Hinata, within hearing range, flashed an active Byakugan. "Ah, you're exactly right, Gaara-kun. It's his spine; most of it's fused together in sections of three to four vertebrae. It doesn't damage his spine, but his flexibility is severely limited."

"It's cool, how perfectly matched these two are," Temari noted. "Each can easily counter the other's ability, and they're locked in a complete stalemate."

"For now," Hinata replied. "Tenten's carrying several of those scrolls; a mass attack with her whole arsenal would be too much for Dosu to keep up with."

Tenten, meanwhile, was thinking along similar lines, and had produced two more weapon-filled scrolls. She knelt and laid them on the ground in front of her, holding an ordinary kunai in her teeth in case Dosu attacked while she was left open.

"You're laying your weapons down," the Oto Genin noted. "Does that mean you're giving up?" _Perhaps her whole purpose here was to reveal my abilities to her friends. No, she seems confident in her abilities and clearly wants to become a Chuunin. She's not surrendering, so why lay down her arms?_

Dosu swung his Melody Arm again, prompting Tenten to whip the kunai between her teeth at him. Dosu, however, grinned as he felt the sound waves properly leave his arm just before the kunai struck. Tenten recoiled and nearly collapsed, crying out in shock and pain. "...Interesting... it seems the damage to your inner ear isn't enough to knock you down. A full hit from my Melody Arm should have completely destroyed your sense of balance, therefore your ability to stand. You should be on the ground, disoriented."

_I'm not gonna get another chance! I have to finish him! _Tenten grasped the twin scrolls at her feet, snapped open the wax seals on them, and leapt high into the air. The scrolls, which were shockingly long for such a small size, twirled around her, revealing the hundreds of small seals within. Each seal contained a different weapon and Tenten had practiced throwing each one. She noted with excitement that she could maintain her balance in midair, despite the pain. Shortly after Dosu had finished speaking, her hearing had failed completely, leaving her with only a muffled ringing in her ears.

She never heard her own voice call, "Twin Rising Dragons," but she saw the barrage of weapons she let fly. She spun opposite the intertwined scrolls, grabbing and throwing blades out of whichever seals first neared her fingertips. At first, Dosu was able to keep up, and he smashed dozens of flying weapons to pieces with his sound waves, but he started missing a few, and that was enough.

The impact of the first weapon he missed, an odd triple-bladed kunai with a navy blue handle, striking his ribs, was enough that he was thrown off-balance and started missing more, distracted by the pain. By the time Tenten landed, he was a mess, and had resorted to blocking with the gauntlet itself to avoid any fatal hits. "Damn it," he growled. "Of all things... why did it have to be a blade specialist?"

"This fight's pretty much over," Tenten replied. "Both of us still have more weapons, but..." she clasped her hands over her ears. "Neither of us is in any shape to use 'em," she finished weakly.

"That's true," Dosu agreed, glaring down at the deep stab wound in his right bicep, still filled by a javelin. "It's just a matter of time now. My wounds are clearly worse than yours, and I'm likely to bleed out in under a minute. I forfeit." _Or rather, I'll live to fight another day. I'll kill you when Orochimaru-sama invades. _

Hayate ended the match. "Dosu Kinuta has forfeited. The winner is Tenten," he announced.

Tenten beamed, and stepped toward the stretcher being readied for her, inevitably turning her back to Dosu.

"Perhaps I shouldn't wait after all," the Oto Genin decided, and turned to his right. He was unable to use the muscles in his arm, but by spinning his entire body he managed to whip his Melody Arm with enough speed to create an attack.

_Do what Naruto Uzumaki would do. _

Dosu's eyes widened as his fist slammed into a wall of sand, which parted in two a moment later to reveal Gaara. The Suna Genin stepped through the opening in his sand construct, approaching Dosu, who slowly began to retreat. "Running away won't save you," Gaara noted grimly, and held out his open right hand, reaching for the Melody Arm. "Stop, or I'll amputate your right arm at the elbow."

Dosu froze. He was immediately stripped of his weapon and escorted from the building by four Chuunin. Everyone present noted that as the gauntlet was removed, a large stream of sand poured out of it and Dosu's sleeve. Gaara hadn't been bluffing. Said Jinchuuriki then turned to Tenten, who had watched the exchange with wide eyes. He approached, forced a smile, and said, "Congratulations on your victory."

"T-thanks..." she replied with a slight tremor in her voice. "Why did you...?"

"Save you from that attack?" Gaara shook his head sadly, and his forced smile faded. "Looking back, I'm not sure why. But I know there was no reason _not _to save you."

Tenten blinked, and tried to think of a response, but it was too late. The medics carried her away, leaving her to wonder what the _hell_ was going on in that boy's head.

Gaara, meanwhile, made his way back to the spectators' balcony. His smile was gone, but inside, he was content. _Yes, I'm certain. That's what Naruto would have done. He would have saved her. _Kankurou and Temari watched him return to where he'd been standing between them, in total shock. Meanwhile the screen showing names for the next match was randomized again.

"It's Fate," Neji proclaimed with a smirk.

_Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga. _Hinata read the screen, and glanced down at the arena, where Neji was already standing. He noticed her watching, but didn't bother to hide his smirk. "...I see," Hinata whispered, and turned to the stairs. _Neji-nii. I don't want to do this, but I can see that you do._

"Hinata-sama," he began politely while she arrived, with his smile gone. "You must know you can't win this fight. Forfeit the match, and I won't have to hurt you." he activated his Byakugan, and added, "You're destined to be weak. You should just accept that."

Hinata shook her head. "No, Neji. If we fight, I'll win. And I'll have to hurt _you_."

"Don't make me laugh," he replied coldly, showing no trace of laughter. "I'll tell you one last time. Surrender, now."

"Gekkou-san," Hinata addressed the proctor. "Please signal for the match to begin."

Hayate nodded, and called, "Begin."

Neji lunged forward, aiming a volley of Gentle Fist strikes, but Hinata had already begun her backward leap, putting herself at a proper ninjutsu range. "You're retreating?" Neji asked incredulously.

Hinata blurred her fingers through a sequence of seals, and replied, "Water Release: Water Bullet." Neji dodged the attack, not knowing it had little force behind it. Hinata's chakra control allowed her to lower the jutsu's power to a ball-shaped splash.

"Ninjutsu. So you're too afraid to face me with taijutsu, then."

Hinata closed her eyes for a moment. "I know you're more skilled with the Gentle Fist than I am, and I won't pretend that's not true. That's why I won't let you land a single strike on me." she held out her hands, palms-up at her sides, forming a sphere of volatile chakra in each hand. "Rasengan," she named it, and Neji realized she hadn't turned on her Byakugan.

_His _doujutsu, however, showed him just how much chakra was packed into each attack, and he involuntarily took a step back. "What... is that?"

"I... can't..." Hinata mumbled, and the chakra orbs dissolved back into her body. "Using that jutsu would kill you. I can't believe I even considered it... I have to hold back."

Neji's pale eyes narrowed in anger. _She's going to hold back? _His fingertips gave off a soft glow of blue chakra. _On ME? _He blurred forward, reaching for her tenketsu. _Not good enough!_

"Water Bullet!" Hinata called, and Neji dodged another three small projectiles, continuing to close in. "Water Dragon Bullet!" she added, and a serpent of water, fifteen feet long, rose from the floor behind her. It hissed and wrapped itself around Hinata in a protective circle. Neji, unfazed, stabbed the dragon with several Gentle Fist strikes, destabilizing the chakra flow within so that it collapsed.

Hinata cut through the falling torrent of water with a three-foot-long stave. Neji instinctively blocked, which resulted in a fractured left forearm. _What is this? _He asked himself incredulously, then dodged another swipe of her weapon, cradling his useless arm. _Some kind of weapon... _"Fine. So your range is increased a little. I can still dodge your attacks, and even block them now that I know you have such a weapon."

Hinata triggered her Byakugan, and imitated Naruto's kenjutsu stance. "Why is this so important to you? What did I do to make you hate me?"

"I don't hate you," Neji replied. "But you're destined to be weak... and you're a Main Branch Hyuuga. This is a chance to spit in the face of the Main Branch, and I'm going to take it." He dashed forward and jabbed at her abdomen with his chakra-laced fingertips, only to have each strike slapped away by the gold-lined staff. _If there's a weak point in the wood or metal, a properly focused chakra burst might crack it... _The next moment his arm touched the side of the stave, he released a spike of chakra from a tenketsu in his arm.

The two steel blades lined with gold filigree sprang out of each end of the weapon, and Neji's belly received a shallow scrape from the tip of the blade. Hinata's thick white coat caught on the blade at her hip, and she twisted out of the way, resulting in a small rip in her coat. "What the hell... is that thing?" Neji mused, stepping back.

_If I retract the blades, odds are Neji-nii will end up triggering them again. I should just keep them out. _Hinata shifted her grip so that she wielded the staff with two hands as a spear. "Neji-nii... I'm sure you've thought many times about what the Hyuuga are doing wrong." His eyes momentarily widened. "I thought so... We only use taijutsu rather than applying our chakra control to ninjutsu, we never take up a weapon like this one, even though it would go so nicely with the Byakugan... we apply a juinjutsu to three quarters of our clan and torture them with it."

"What are you saying?" he growled, having briefly forgotten his attack.

"I won't make the same mistakes our family is making, Neji-nii. And you don't have to make them either. I swear, I'll be the next head of the Hyuuga Clan, and I _will_ end the Caged Bird Seal. When that day comes, The Main House will ask for the Branch's forgiveness. I will too... will you forgive me?"

"Stop talking like this," Neji snarled as his anger began to rise. "You won't save yourself from me, not unless you surrender."

Hinata sighed out loud, remembering her recent encounter with Kurama. _When someone's outlook on life is challenged, they don't take it well, _she realized, _and they'll fight to hold on to their beliefs. _"I'm sorry. I can't do that. I have to win here, and as much as I wish it wasn't against my cousin... I'm going to defeat you."

The Branch House scion increased the chakra flow to every part of his body, which Hinata could clearly see. "Eight Trigrams, Revolving Heaven!" he roared, and spun violently, pouring chakra out of his entire body.

Hinata began reacting just before the jutsu formed, since she knew it was coming. She tightened her right-hand fingers around the staff, pressing it back into the ring with a slight pulse of chakra, and leapt away from Neji as he began to spin. She formed a Rasengan in her right palm, and shoved it out in front of herself in an attempt to counter the Revolving Heaven. The two spheres of whirling chakra ground violently against each other, both distorting slightly away from the point of impact.

After a few seconds, both attacks gave out. Hinata's Rasengan destabilized and exploded in her hand, sending her flying, as well as Neji since his defense had simply died down around him. Both Hyuuga picked themselves up, groaning but still ready to continue the battle.

"What kind of jutsu was that...?" Neji muttered as he stood. "A new Gentle Fist jutsu? It's a close-range ninjutsu-"

"No." Hinata formed a second Rasengan. "It's not, I can throw one."

Neji saw her pull her right arm back, and immediately resumed his defense. "Revolving Heaven!" The jutsu in Hinata's hand, he noticed, was spinning in the opposite direction to his Revolving Heaven.

Deactivating her Byakugan, Hinata reached into her left-hand coat pocket and pulled out a shuriken to throw. _I can perform two Rasengan at once, but I can only throw one at a time. Neji-nii proved that won't be enough to break the Revolving Heaven... _she threw her shuriken and shouted, "Substitution!"

Neji's line of sight was blocked by his own jutsu, but the Byakugan let him see in all directions, _from_ all directions, not to mention its ability to see through objects. It was, in effect, an all-seeing eye, so he clearly saw Hinata teleport to the edge of his Revolving Heaven, slamming her right-hand Rasengan into the wall of Neji's chakra. _What is she up to? Was she bluffing about throwing that thing?_

Hinata's left hand formed a second Rasengan, and she thrust it into the dome as well. "_Twin Rasengan!_"

The floor where Hinata's and Neji's attacks met began to rip apart. First the green tiles cracked and shattered, then the concrete beneath crumbled into chunks that were in turn thrown around by the three spinning orbs of chakra. Then the foundation of wood and earth beneath the floor was torn at, as Hinata's two Rasengan cut through Neji's defense.

She stepped through the wall of chakra, noting it was similar to a wind-based jutsu. This was her first time seeing a Revolving Heaven from the inside, since chakra glowed when viewed with a Byakugan, thereby obstructing her view from outside. She noted with surprise that the air inside was nearly still; the Revolving Heaven was hollow. Neji was still spinning and glowing as he poured out blue chakra to fuel the dome.

With his Byakugan, he saw her approaching, inside his Revolving Heaven, and doubled his output of chakra, using brute force to create an outward-blowing wind without the Wind Release. Hinata was pushed backward a few paces, and the inside of the Revolving Heaven tore at the back of her coat, but she pushed forward against the wind. _If I had've been pushed any further, this jutsu would have picked me up and thrown me, probably across the arena. _

She pushed the rest of her chakra into her two Rasengan, then pressed her hands together, melting both Rasengan into a single one twice the size, which she held with both hands. It acted as a partial shield against Neji's wind, spinning it away from her and letting her approach more quickly.

Neji knew it was over; he realized it when she got within six feet of him, but he continued to spin and expel chakra in desperation until her Rasengan shrank down to its normal size and slammed into his chest. His Revolving Heaven came to a stop as he was thrown out of it, revealing Hinata to the audience, standing at the jutsu's center. Everyone, even the Hokage, was gaping at the scene in total incomprehension.

Hinata watched Neji's chakra network continue to flow, and she focused her Byakugan to see his internal organs. He was in no danger of death, and she sighed in relief upon seeing that. "...Neji Hyuuga is unable to continue the match," Hayate Gekkou declared. "The winner is Hinata Hyuuga."

"...How?" Neji mumbled, half to himself, still laying immobile on the floor. "How did you... get that strong? You were weak. You were supposed to be... How did you do it?"

"I became this strong because I chose to," Hinata panted as her Rasengan finished fading. "And I'm going to get stronger. I didn't and still don't believe Fate can hold us back. It's always pushed both of us forward!" she took a single step toward Neji. "Look at you. You're a prodigy, one of the most promising ninja Konoha's seen in decades, and you think Fate is some inevitable brick wall that's going to stop you, maybe kill you for trying to defeat your destiny, right?"

"...That's exactly right," he replied angrily.

"Whatever gods are up there," Hinata continued with an upward glance, "I don't think they like to see people held back. They want us to find the full extent of our potential, and live up to it. Whatever being or beings created this world, they want us to excel and make ourselves, if not them, proud."

Neji closed his eyes, considering this. "What's the potential you're trying to live up to? What goal could push you this hard?"

"A lot of things. I need to be strong to lead the Hyuuga Clan. I want to be strong for myself, of course. And I want to be there when the next Hokage is crowned, standing at his... Naruto's side. I'm at Naruto's level right now, and I won't ever fall behind him. Yes..." she smiled. "I think that's what drives both of us so much. I want to always be there at his side, and I think the feeling's mutual."

"It is."

All eyes turned to a rain-drenched Naruto, with the haori of the Fourth Hokage draped over his signature orange jumpsuit. Standing in the doorway, the late arrival grinned at Hinata and added, "That was amazing, Hina-chan."

She blushed very faintly, but kept smiling. "H-How long were you standing there?"

"When I showed up, you used the Water Dragon Bullet to block Neji and pull out that staff. It's not surprising no one noticed me; that whole match was freaking awesome!" he raved excitedly. "I do have a question though... the Water Dragon Bullet..."

Hinata realized what he meant, and nodded. "It's still heavy on my chakra, but when I used it in Wave, I used it several times in that dome. I can do it once or twice in a full fight, leaving enough chakra for a few Rasengan."

"Ah," Orochimaru murmured, disguised as an Oto Jounin. "So she _did_ say Rasengan." _Yes, I recognize that jutsu and its name... so Jiraiya taught it to her, hm? He and this girl, then, are now the only two people in the world who know it. Perhaps I should capture her, and wring its secrets out of her. _

"So what took you so long, Naruto?" Kiba called from the crowd of spectating Genin

"I slept in," he admitted, and scratched his neck sheepishly. "Stupid alarm clock didn't go off..."

"Naruto," Gaara commanded his attention, and the blond boy turned to see where Gaara was looking. _Gaara no Sabaku vs. Naruto Uzumaki. _"They wasted no time," the Ichibi Jinchuuriki noted quietly.

Hinata jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Naruto, resulting in a few raised eyebrows among the spectators. "Don't lose to him, Naru-kun," she mumbled in his ear.

Naruto nodded, and hugged her back. "We became Genin together. We're gonna do the same thing as Chuunin, believe it."

Gaara used a platform of sand under his feet to float down into the arena. _I told myself I would kill him if I beat him, but after what I've seen these past few days... the decisions I've already made... _he watched Naruto approach impassively, while inside he was quickly approaching a choice that would change the rest of his life. _He's already beaten me in one way. I can never go back to killing people for amusement, and... I don't want to. He's making me like himself. _"...I've changed my mind," Gaara declared.

Naruto paled. "W-what do you mean? You don't want the seal?"

"No, I mean I'm not going to kill you." Gaara watched Naruto's face light up with relief, but he then released the entirety of the sand in his gourd. "At least, not intentionally."

"Begin."

Naruto immediately slipped his hand into the weapons pouch on his right leg, producing several Flying Raijin kunai and whipping them at Gaara, who easily swatted them aside with sand. The pronged blades clattered to the floor, and Naruto set his sights on one near Gaara.

The Hokage watched Naruto teleport to his opponent, and his eyes widened. _Was that... the Flying Raijin Jutsu? No, the kunai isn't there any more. It switched places to where Naruto had been! So the rumors about a Substitution variant are true. Interesting..._

Naruto produced his cutlass and swiped at Gaara several times, but each attack was deflected by sand. "Kenjutsu is useless against me," Gaara informed him calmly.

"Yeah?" Naruto dodged a small stream of sand that aimed for his left hip, then whipped his blade at Gaara again. "Wind Scar!"

Gaara sidestepped the six wind blades that were slowed by his sand. _It's like Temari's Wind Scythe. He can focus it through a weapon, without hand seals... _he unfolded his arms, and directed one of them toward Naruto's chest. _I can move the sand with just my mind, but if I use hand gestures, it's twice as fast. _Naruto slashed his cutlass at the new, larger and faster attack, deflecting it. He laughed as a thought occured to him. "What about this battle could possibly amuse you?" Gaara asked, curious.

"It's nothing," Naruto chuckled as he blocked another blast of flying sand. "Just, I read a manga once with a fight just like this. Except it was a katana, not a cutlass, and the other guy was using little tiny blades, not sand." he took a step forward, and raised his sword over his head. "This bit didn't happen in the manga though!" he shouted with excitement. "Wind Release: Wind Blade!"

Gaara directed the bulk of his sand upward over his head to stop the seven-foot ethereal blade Naruto had conjured. "Why are you so at ease? We're fighting."

Naruto swiped his massive weapon at Gaara again, and the Suna Genin decided to start backing away. His sand was better for long-range fighting, and that sword was dangerous. "But we're not trying to kill each other," Naruto replied. "So no hard feelings! Shinra Tensei!"

Gaara's eyes widened as he was thrown across the arena, with his sand collapsing into a pool in front of Naruto, who maintained eye contact with the now-airborne Gaara. The redheaded Jinchuuriki noted that his foe's Rinnegan was now active, and Naruto was grinning. _He's actually enjoying this... But there's no killing intent, no thirst for blood. _Gaara skidded to a stop on the floor, only barely injured. _So... as long as I don't try to kill him, I'm free to enjoy this battle as well! _He stood, and flashed his own grin, then took back control of the sand near Naruto.

Naruto leapt into the air away from the sand, and reached upward for the roof. "Banshou Tenin," he called, pulling himself into the rafters above the arena. _If I'm gonna beat him, I can't hold back at all. _He formed a few quick hand seals, and shouted, "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

Gaara's sand caught the attack and exploded into a glistening tan cloud between the two Jinchuuriki. Naruto drew a kunai from his pouch and launched it through the cloud. "Shadow Shuriken Clone Jutsu!" he roared as it passed into the sand, and he used a Substitution on the original, then transformed into a kunai identical to the others. The result was Gaara's sand swatting several hundred kunai aside, all of which exploded into clouds of smoke. Naruto emerged from one of those clouds, and threw another kunai at Gaara. "Shadow Shuriken Clone Jutsu!" he repeated, and another thousand blades flew toward his opponent.

Gaara wrapped himself in sand, since the attacks were already closing in. He heard the impacts of the kunai against his Shield of Sand, and he murmured within, "Sand Coffin." he made a fist in each hand and crunched the weapons into pieces. All but one turned to white smoke, leaving the pieces of the original to scatter on the floor.

Gaara opened a hole in his cocoon, and immediately regretted it when he saw Naruto in the middle of swinging his sword at the Shield of Sand. "Wind Scar!" the sand wall shook from the impact, but it had never been pierced, and a C-ranked wind jutsu wouldn't be enough to crack it. _Enough of this, _Gaara decided. _Naruto clearly isn't holding back anything but the power of his Kyuubi. Why should I hold back anything but Shukaku? _

"Wind Scar!" Naruto repeated, not noticing a ball of sand condense in midair and become Gaara's Third Eye. Deep slashes were carved into the outside of Gaara's shell, but they smoothed over in a matter of moments. The Third Eye dissolved and joined the stream of sand Gaara forced through the floor, grinding the stone and earth below into a desert's worth of sand.

Naruto's Rinnegan showed him Gaara's chakra flowing throughout the floor, and he returned his cutlass to the seal on his ring, knowing his foe was up to something. _Let's take a look at what's going on down there... _"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"

Naruto yelped and quickly retreated away as he saw the slice of earth he raised was flowing with somewhat darker brown sand that reached out to attack him. An addditional hand seal sent the wall of earth sliding back into the floor. _I can see his chakra throughout the entire floor! If he's doing this everywhere... _"I've gotta get back into the rafters," he growled, and aimed his palms at the floor. "Shinra Tensei!" he shot himself high into the air, and perched once more on a support beam holding up part of the roof.

Moments later the entire arena exploded with sand, brown from the dirt and grey from the stones, reaching upward as dozens of clawed arms, all aimed at Naruto. Hinata, now standing amidst her fellow Genin, watched with wide eyes as Naruto dodged. Several missed attacks tore holes in the roof, and she realized with a start that Gaara intended to destroy the roof so Naruto would have nothing to stand on but the desert below. "Naruto! He's destroying the roof on purpose!"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he watched another arm of sand rip a massive hole in the roof. Through that hole he saw only blackness. _Wait a minute... it's daytime outside, and raining... _"Thanks Hina-chan!" he shouted, and leapt through the nearest hole in the roof. Now that he knew to look for it, he could faintly see Gaara's chakra holding up a thin barrier of sand to keep out the rain. On the inside it was damp, but it was better than letting the rain soak the entire battlefield. _So water weakens his sand..._

Six more sand arms ripped up through the roof to converge on Naruto, who just barely dodged this much larger Sand Coffin. "I know your weakness now, Gaara!" he called, and formed a few more rapid hand seals. "Wind Release: Erasing Wind!"

Gaara reinforced the sand dome with additional chakra, but it was still paper-thin, and Naruto's omnidirectional jutsu ripped it apart. The Konoha Jinchuuriki jumped into the air, and summoned his sword out of the seal on his finger. "Here goes," he murmured under the sounds of wind and torrential rain. "WIND SCAR!"

Gaara scowled far below, watching a good chunk of the weakened roof get ripped apart by the jutsu. _That was more powerful than his other Wind Scars... more like a Wind Scythe, but what's he thinking? The rain he's letting through will slow down my sand, but as soon as he lands I can finish him with something as simple as a Sand Coffin. Unless...!_

"Earth Wall!" Naruto cried as he fell, and a vertical slab of earth rose up from deep underground, cutting through Gaara's sand. Naruto perched atop the ten-foot-high wall, and set his sights on Gaara's sand cocoon. _That sand he's using as a shield moved faster than the big sand tentacles, when he was using it to attack... It's just a stab in the dark, but I think that sand from his gourd is different. I'm gonna have a hard time getting through it... There's only one jutsu I can think of... _He pushed his cutlass back into its seal, and began making another sequence of hand seals.

_I recognize that... _Shukaku growled in Gaara's mind. _My own signature jutsu! _"Drilling Air Bullet!" Naruto roared, and clasped his hands together into a single fist which he swung forward at Gaara. A much smaller version of Shukaku's creation, a ball of swirling, compressed wind, was launched forward from his hands to strike Gaara's Shield of Sand, which cracked like an egg.

Gaara was violently thrown back by the force of the jutsu, but he was unharmed. He immediately formed another cocoon from the sand he lay on, but the water interfering with his power, combined with the fact this sand was barely infused with his chakra at all, meant that Naruto's next Wind Scar ripped through it.

"I won't keep defending and cowering," Gaara growled in frustration, and formed the clone hand seal. "Multiple Sand Clone Jutsu!"

Two dozen angry Gaara replicas rose up out of the ground, and Naruto paled. _I gotta finish this quickly. Something tells me he's prepared to make a hell of a lot more clones if I take these out without beating him. _

_But you've already used your most powerful jutsu, _Kurama observed within his mind.

_No, not my most powerful one; technically I know Chibaku Tensei._

_Even if you could use it, which you can't, it wouldn't do anything to Gaara's sand. You'd be more likely to injure everyone else. _

_I'm still thinking, damn it, _Naruto shot back, then paused. _I don't know a wind jutsu for this, and my Deva Path jutsu aren't strong enough to shatter clones like these yet... Let's try something out. _He drew back his sword and launched a Wind Scar at one of Gaara's clones. It made no effort to defend itself, and was sliced to pieces, only to reform with its arms still crossed, glaring at Naruto.

"Yep," Naruto decided quietly. "He's stalling." _He's getting a much bigger sand attack, something that takes time to do. _

_Then why is he standing there without a shield, and not directing his clones to attack?_

Naruto's eyes widened. _You're right! He's still there! _The original Gaara had made no attempt to conceal himself after forming his clones, or even blend in with them. "Why aren't you attacking me?" Naruto called, confused.

"What makes you think I'm not?" Gaara replied. Naruto turned around with eyes wide, but it was too late. Gaara had slowly, silently raised a tidal wave of sand behind Naruto, and it crashed down on top of him and his Earth Wall. Gaara nodded to himself contently. _Even if he jumped away and reached the rafters again, his Earth Wall would have been crushed to pieces. I've won. _"Surrender now or I'll crush you with a Sand Coffin," he called.

No answer. "I know you're still alive in there. I left you a bubble of air inside that sand. You have five seconds!"

Four seconds later, a twenty-foot-long arm of metal ripped free of the mountain of sand. Gaara's defenses tried to catch it and slow it down, but accomplished nothing. A five-fingered, clawed hand formed on the end of the arm, and wrapped itself around Gaara, lifting him up into the air.

Kiba nudged Hinata's elbow with his own. "Hey, did you know Naruto could do that?" She shook her head slightly, still watching the battle intently. "Didn't think so."

The sand mountain began to collapse at the base of the metal arm, revealing a person-sized capsule of the same metal, attached to the arm where a shoulder would be. It shattered into small fragments of dull grey metal, revealing a hunched-over and panting Naruto. The keeper of the Kyuubi raised the sword in his right hand and sprinted along the metal arm he'd made, stopping with the tip of his cutlass resting against Gaara's throat.

"I win," he wheezed.

"...How did you make this?" Gaara asked idly, glancing down at the giant metal hand that held him.

"Asura Path," his foe replied quickly, still out of breath. "Are you gonna surrender or what?"

"You're physically drained, out of tricks, and running dangerously low on chakra," the Suna Genin pointed out.

"Doesn't take much chakra to punch your lights out," The Konoha Genin fired back. "Unless you think your shield is gonna work in there." Naruto nodded to the hand holding Gaara. "And that just means I'll have to use this arm thing to crush you until you pass out."

Gaara considered this for a moment, then glared up at Naruto. "...I yield," he reluctantly decided.

"Gaara no Sabaku has forfeited. The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

**Please Review!**


	15. Make a Friend

_Reviews this time came from Rose Tiger, Steam Powered Crow, Siriusly Grim, Ayrmed, Dragon Man 180, griffin blackwood, Musical cake, WinterPrayerOfTheMoons, zigmas, Shizuka Taiyou, StoryTagger2, and *That Guy.* (Nice timing.) Thanks to you all._

_Rose Tiger: I don't bash characters, but yeah, Neji needed to be sorted out._

_Steam Powered Crow: I hope I'm not changing Gaara too quickly. I'm trying to develop his character as gradually as I can._

_Siriusly Grim: Likewise, I look forward to writing them._

_Ayrmed: Thanks._

_Dragon Man 180: Tenten's personality, motives and morals really aren't explored that much in the series. I'm currently watching the Kazekage Rescue Arc of the anime, albeit with plenty of spoilers memorized, and I know next to nothing about her so I'm pretty much developing her character from scratch, which so far has been fun._

_griffin blackwood: Thanks._

_Musical cake: I'm SO glad someone caught on to that. Muhuhuwahaha, yes it is indeed going somewhere._

_WinterPrayerOfTheMoons: Yeah, thanks but I already know that. What I'm doing now is using both 'believe it' and 'ya know' where it seems appropriate to me. As far as I've researched, dattebayo is just four completely meaningless syllables Naruto uses as a verbal tic._

_zigmas: Hinata said that? Cool!_

_Shizuka Taiyou: ...No idea what that meant._

_StoryTagger2: Mass shadow clones tended not to work for him anyway. You remember his fight with Kimimaro? He must've had a thousand shadow clones surrounding the guy, and the stupid buggers jumped at him one at a freaking time. That was just painfully idiotic._

_*That Guy:* Ah yes. Orochimaru is going to be as much of a threat as in canon, or at least damn close. You see, this is what Musical cake figured out: Mizuki was in the Hokage's office when Gaara told him about the Fourth Kazekage's death. Obviously he's going to change his attack plan drastically to compensate for this, but basically what it means is that neither side has the element of surprise. As for the Third Hokage, I know what I'm going to do with him, but I'd rather not give out a spoiler like that. The Sasuke Retrieval Arc will be much different from canon. I haven't fully decided on how it'll go, but it sure as hell won't go like canon, and damn near everything after the timeskip will be hit hard with the butterfly effect from the story thus far._

X

"Can I ask you an important question, Naruto?" Gaara asked quietly, whilst smoothing over the sand-filled arena for the next battle.

"Yeah, sure," Naruto replied, "What is it?"

"What should I do now?"

Naruto blinked. "...Huh? I don't get it."

"I want to be like you, but," the wielder of the Sand Waterfall paused thoughtfully. "I have no idea what to do, to reach that goal. I won't listen to Shukaku ever again; I won't feed his bloodlust or mine, and yet... I still don't feel happy. I don't feel like I've succeeded."

Naruto patted him on the shoulder, grinning. "You wanna know how to be happy? Make some friends, let people in. Get to know some kids our age and talk to them. That should be easy here in Konoha, a fresh start, ya know? No one thinks of you as a demon here, and with some work, you can make friends back in Suna too."

"Is that what you did?"

"Nah, no one was ever there to explain it to me," the blond Jinchuuriki admitted. "I got lucky though, and people came to make friends with _me_ instead."

"I see." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. "I'll do that. You, your team, and my brother and sister... but I can think of one more..." he swept his outstreched arms through the air ahead of him, flattening more of the desert he'd created to fight Naruto. "Does this look like an acceptable arena?" he asked.

"It's all pretty much even, so I guess," Naruto shrugged.

"Then... there's someone I have to go see." Gaara turned and strode through the only door from the arena. Behind him, the next match was announced between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. Naruto jumped up to the platform filled by his fellow spectating Genin at the same time Ino and Sakura made their way down to the newly remodeled battlefield.

Hinata immediately jumped forward and hugged him. Naruto didn't hesitate to embrace her back, despite the curious looks the other Genin were giving him. "Told ya," he murmured, grinning. "We're _both_ gonna be Chuunin. We're one step closer."

Hinata grinned with her head resting on his shoulder. "To being Fifth Hokage..."

"...and Head of the Hyuuga Clan," Naruto finished.

"That's just a little bit creepy," Kiba threw in, and chuckled. "Did you practice that? First Konoha, and then... the _world! _Mwa ha ha!" he gave an intentionally evil laugh. "Everything is going perfectly according to plan."

"Actually," Hinata admitted, "we did practice that line, when we were ten." she blinked. "The one _we_ said, not yours," she quickly clarified.

"Taking over the world is the villain's job," Naruto added. As he and Hinata pulled apart, his hand brushed over her back. His eyes widened when he found that the thick fabric of her coat was ripped to shreds, and he felt a spot where the remaining fabric of her shirt was warm and wet with blood. "Hina-chan, you're hurt!" he called out in shock.

"Oh," she murmured, "It's just a scratch." Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "No really, it is. See for yourself," She turned her back to him, and he saw most of the back of her thick coat was gone, leaving a ragged hole that revealed the back of her pale grey shirt. A few horizontal scratches had been torn in it as well, but the only damage to her skin was a few bloody nicks. "It doesn't even hurt," she admitted, "but it itches a little."

_I think I can heal these... _Naruto mused. _Just a few scratches. I can at least try... _He reached out and gently laid his hand over one of the scratches. Hinata jumped and blushed. "S-Sorry!" he exclaimed. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," she replied, still blushing with her back turned to Naruto. "You just startled me, that's all." she felt Naruto hesitantly place his hand on her back again, followed by a warm, tingling sensation where she had been cut. "N-Naruto, what are you doing back there?"

"I'm healing you. Honestly, I'm a little surprised it's working, ya know? I never had the chakra control to do this before, so I dropped out of the medic-nin lessons, but I guess I've improved a bit."

"You took medic-nin lessons?" Kankurou asked. "That's pretty cool."

"No it isn't," Naruto replied sadly. "See, I _took _the lessons, but I just said I never _passed_ 'em, ya know?"

"You're healing her, aren't you?" the puppet user pointed out.

"I'm suprised it's working. I can find and clear out poisons in food, but when I was in the class, that was all I was good for. I only managed to heal an actual cut maybe one out of ten times, and even then, only tiny ones like this, but..." he shrugged, and moved his hand to another scratch. "I guess all that walking on trees and water boosted my chakra control." he chuckled. "Hey, maybe I should take those classes again... I might just pass this time."

X

"...Why is she unconscious?"

"The operation was brief, but it would have been incredibly painful. We sedated her while we were repairing her ears."

"I see." Gaara set down his gourd and took a seat in one of the chairs by Tenten's hospital bed, and glanced back up at the two medic-nin standing over her. "How long should it take for her to wake up?"

"The dose was small; we didn't have to put her under for long, but we also couldn't risk her waking up in the middle of the operation. We finished up a few minutes ago, so... maybe ten minutes until the medicine wears off, and a bit longer until she actually wakes up."

Gaara nodded. "Thank you. Am I allowed to wait here until then?"

One of the medic-nin nodded. "Be sure to speak quietly when she wakes up," the other added, and they both left.

Gaara toyed with the cork of his gourd, and waited. After a few minutes, he decided to use a Third Eye to watch the other Genin fight, without leaving the hospital wing. With his real left eye closed to use the eye of sand, he noted with interest that two kunoichi from Konoha were currently fighting with kunai and taijutsu. _Are they holding back their ninjutsu as a secret weapon for the next test? _

"Ugh..." Tenten groaned as she woke, and immediately brought her hands up to cover her ears. _My ears are ringing, and my voice is so loud it hurts... _She opened her eyes and sluggishly turned her head to look around. "Is... is anyone there?" she mumbled.

"I am," Gaara replied softly, and she turned to see him. "The two medic-nin who healed your ears left a few minutes ago."

"You're that kid who stopped Dosu from sucker punching me. Thanks... and I owe you for that advice before the match too." _Block his attacks, every single time, with a metal weapon. Never dodge. _"So... how did your match go?"

"I lost to Naruto Uzumaki," Gaara replied. _I have no clan name. Is that such a big deal?_ "...I have no clan name, like you."

"Huh?" Tenten paused, and remembered what she'd said to him before her match. "Oh yeah, that. I remember..." _The hell was up with that psycho smile? _"I wanted to ask you something, but I never got the chance back there. What's your story? You seem really... different."

"Different..." Gaara echoed. "That's true. I'm very different." he closed his eyes, and began, "I'm the son of the Fourth Kazekage, and he made the decision, before I was even born, to seal a demon inside me. An immortal, giant monster called Shukaku of the One Tail. Up until recently, that demon was the only voice I ever talked to, and I let it control my life, but no more. Naruto changed that, and he told me to start making friends here in Konoha, where no one thinks of me as a demon."

"A demon? Like the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

"That's right. Mine is just as bloodthirsty and evil, and it was the only influence on my life and my personality... You can imagine what kind of a mess I was. Now, thanks to Naruto, I've resolved to change myself, and become happy. I want to enjoy life, and I will, but right now I'm only just starting. I don't think I even know how to smile properly," he admitted, and forced a broad grin.

"Huh." _So that's what it was, he just doesn't know how to smile... _"Maybe try smiling like this," she answered, and smiled cheerfully back at him. Gaara studied the expression on her face for a moment, then imitated it as best he could. "There you go, much better," she added as her grin broadened, then asked, "So why's your left eye closed? Did something happen in your fight with Naruto?"

Gaara opened his left eye, revealing that it was unharmed. "No... I was using a jutsu to keep an eye on the battles, but I stopped paying attention when you woke up. There's a girl with pink hair fighting a girl with blonde hair, both wearing Konoha headbands. Do you know them?"

"Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. They graduated from the Academy with me."

"The jutsu I was using..." Gaara raised a ball of sand out of his gourd, and held it out to show her. "I can use it to show you your friends' matches, if you want."

"Really?" Tenten asked, immediately interested. "Cool! Thanks, um... I never did catch your name."

"Gaara." He stood, and held his right hand over her left eye. "Close this eye," he prompted. "Keep in mind, this will feel strange."

Tenten nodded, and closed the eye under Gaara's hand. Immediately, she shut it tighter in response to the painful sensation of something in her eye, most likely sand. Then, without warning, her closed eye's field of vision was replaced by that of a disembodied orb watching Ino throw her severed ponytail at Sakura. "Whoa," Tenten breathed. "This is... amazing." she looked around with her real eyes, triggering the same movement in the Third Eye. "Hold on... is that... the whole arena's filled with sand!"

"That was me," Gaara admitted. "I also destroyed the roof with some help from Naruto." Tenten blinked with her right eye when she noticed that the sand was continually being soaked with rainwater.

She whistled. "Looks like some of the roof was torn apart, but there's a bunch of spots where it's been cleanly sliced through. Was that Naruto?"

"That's right. He used a jutsu called the Wind Scar."

"Wind Scar, huh? I should probably research that." she smirked. "After all, I might just end up fighting Naruto later during this exam. He... both of you must be really strong, to do this much damage."

"It's like you said earlier. He and I are different from most people."

Tenten frowned. "...What's going on in there? Ino's not moving, but neither is Sakura... Looks like Ino used one of the Yamanaka Clan's mind-altering jutsu, but- Wait! Yeah, that was it, Sakura made a hand seal and they're both moving again! They're talking, but I can't hear what they're saying, and I don't know how to read lips, but I can see they're both really drained."

Gaara closed one of his own eyes, and replied, "I'm watching with you now." The two Genin saw Sakura and Ino both rally, and sprint toward each other. "Taijutsu..." the two girls each delivered a solid-looking punch to each other's jaw, and they were thrown apart by the force. "They're unconscious... It's a draw. What are the odds?" he mused.

"Those two," Tenten breathed, "have been in a rivalry for years now. Before that, they were friends... I think a draw's really the best way for a fight between them to end. Maybe now they can stop fighting and get along again." Her voice changed slightly, and she smirked. "I guess it's Fate."

Gaara frowned. "Fate... You're on the same team as Neji Hyuuga?"

"Yeah, why?"

"His match came after yours and before mine. He fought Hinata Hyuuga, and although he was clearly powerful, he lost. I thought you might want to know how it went."

"He lost..." Tenten echoed. "To Hinata? How'd he handle it?"

"...I'm not sure. Hinata said something about Fate not holding people back, but pushing them forward, and then Naruto arrived. After that, my match with him began, and Neji was taken away at some point. I'm not sure what he had to say on the subject."

"Huh... Neji's always claimed he's as strong as he is because it was his destiny. Some people are meant to be strong, and shape the future of the world, and others are supposed to be ordinary. Trying to defy your Fate gets you hurt or worse, that's what he believes. And he's mentioned a few times that Hinata's too weak to be a ninja."

"Clearly she hadn't shown him her ninjutsu then," Gaara noted. "That chakra sphere and the Water Release she used might well give even me trouble."

"Water Release? She even uses an element?"

Gaara nodded. "My sand is slowed down and weakened by water," he explained. "I can still counter it, but it's the most notable weakness I have. And Hinata did show considerable skill with it... if you fight her, you should know that she has the Water Dragon Bullet."

"A Dragon Bullet?" Tenten repeated, incredulous. "But those techniques take most of the average Chuunin's chakra! How did she manage to keep that kind of power hidden as a Genin? _Why _did she?"

"I can imagine why some people keep certain powers secret," Gaara replied. "But enough of that..." he glanced around, and swept the room with a few wisps of sand. "We're not being watched... you should know that Oto means to declare war on Konoha." Both her eyes opened wide, cutting off the Third Eye's signals, but Gaara added quickly, "Don't say anything loudly. Someone might still be in hearing range."

"W-War?" Tenten whispered. "Oto?"

"Their leader is a Konoha missing-nin I'm sure you've heard of. Orochimaru. He's planning to attak during the final stage of the Chuunin Exams. I'm telling you this because your existence is worth more than a Chuunin vest. Conserve your strength on that day, even if it means throwing your match."

"Um..." she paused, then murmured, "Yeah. You're right. 'Sides, if I kick enough ass when they attack," she beamed, "I might get a field promotion anyway."

"There's more. Oto intended their attack to be a surprise, but... They made the mistake of tricking Suna into aiding them. Orochimaru manipulated, then killed my father, and my nation responded by switching sides. I personally informed the Hokage of Orochimaru's treachery, but... I did so with one of Oto's spies, Mizuki Tora, in the room. He's likely informed his master that their cover is blown."

Tenten froze. "There are two more Oto Genin in the exam right now. They won't play nice now that they're exposed the higher-ups as spies, they'll specifically aim to kill any Konoha and Suna Genin they fight. My friends..."

"...Mine as well, and my brother and sister," Gaara added. "Close both of your eyes. One Third Eye will watch the exams, and I'll set up another outside this room, so if anyone comes here to kill an exposed and injured enemy shinobi, you'll see your assassins coming."

"Assassins? Why would Oto target me in particular?"

"You did defeat one of their Genin, and it's left you injured, even if only slightly. Once I leave this room, you'll be alone, without access to your scrolls and the weapons within. In roughly a month's time, you'll be fighting against them in an open war, with your full strength and your arsenal. You're a threat to them, and this is the ideal time for them to deal with you... on the other hand, you're one Genin among hundreds. It's more likely they won't go out of their way to kill you, but just in case, keep an eye open."

"You... sound like you're used to this. Any other advice?"

"I don't know anything about Oto ninja in particular, but the ANBU in Suna used specific weapons: elongated kunai of much higher quality than the disposable ones most of us use, and standard-issue katanas, both with blades painted dull black. They don't reflect light like an ordinary blade. Both weapons are carried in sheaths that don't make any sound when they're drawn."

"I've seen weapons like that," Tenten admitted. "They're specially made stealth gear for assassination. Normally, only the ANBU or maybe some Jounin would carry them; they're pretty expensive. So you were either on an assassination mission with an ANBU... or you were the target."

"Up until recently, I was insane and unstable. When I was seven, my father sent a total of six consecutive ANBU units to kill me." Tenten winced. "That part of my life is behind me now, for several reasons. The important thing is..." Gaara flipped open the kunai holster he wore on his brown leather sash, and pulled out an elongated black kunai with a hard black carbon sheath fitted around it. The sheath looked as though it was meant to be strapped to a forearm as a bracer. "...From those events, I gained experience, valuable life lessons, and this souvenir."

He handed the kunai to Tenten. "Keep this on your person at all times. Make sure your friends maintain constant vigilance as well."

Tenten hesitantly took the weapon and unsheathed it. _The blade's still in great condition. It's razor-sharp, no signs of rust... _"Gaara, do you know how much a weapon like this is worth?"

"To me, nothing. I have my own weapon." He once again held his hand over one of her eyes. "Close your eyes, and keep that kunai hidden."

X

_Chouji Akimichi vs. Misumi Tsurugi._

Shikamaru chuckled, and patted his friend on the back. "You've got this one, big guy. Tsurugi's got the worst jutsu in Konoha to use on you."

"Worst? As in, I'm gonna get my ass kicked, or worst as in..."

"You're gonna destroy him," the genius clarified.

"Man..." Chouji whined, "Can't I at least finish this bag of chips before I have to go fight this guy?"

"You opened it eight seconds ago."

"But it's almost gone, look!" Chouji showed his friend the contents of the bag.

"...Whoa." Shikamaru blinked. "I didn't even think it was possible to eat that fast." he sighed. "Ah, just take the bag with you. It's not really gonna take much effort for you to win this match, and you've got... how many more bags did you bring?"

"Uh..." Chouji popped open his kunai holster, pulled out a small scroll, and unfurled it to reveal dozens of storage seals. "Two, four, six eight ten... seventeen." Shikamaru muttered something that sounded like 'damned troublesome Akimichi kekkei genkai...' Chouji rolled up his snack scroll again, and added, "I get it, Shikamaru. If I beat this guy I can spend the rest of the day eating, and enjoying the show. I'll be right back!" he called, already leaving.

"...That went better than I expected," Shikamaru muttered.

"Begin," the exam proctor commanded, then hunched forward with a coughing fit.

Immediately, Tsurugi sprinted forward, punched Chouji in the face, and dislocated most of the bones in his limbs including his fingers, wrapping himself around the pudgy boy like a snake. "This is the part where you surrender," the older Konoha Genin whispered in the younger's ear.

Chouji blinked. "Man, Shika wasn't kidding. This really is the worst power anyone could use on me. Dude, I'm an _Akimichi_. You know what that means, right? I can expand my entire body, or even just parts of it, to ginormous... is that a word? Eh... ginormous sizes with my clan's ninjutsu. It's instant, like I'm exploding into a bigger size. So what do you think's gonna happen if I use that with a noodle-bodied freak wrapped around me?"

"...Fuck," Tsurugi said once he finished visualizing the incredibly painful death Chouji could put him through at a moment's notice.

"Yeah... not a nice way to go," the Akimichi heir continued almost reluctantly. "But I like to think I'm a nice guy. I wanna win this match, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna make you splode with no warning. For _so _many reasons. One, I'm a nice guy, not some noodle-freak-exploding psycho. Two, I've got a massive pile of snacks waiting for me after this match and blowing you up would ruin my appetite... damn, maybe I _am_ a psycho. Three, and this is a big one, most of us here are kids. We're well-trained superpowered child soldiers, sure, but we're still kids, and seeing something like what I could do to you... tends to mess people up psychologically."

"So you're not gonna do it, then," Tsurugi realized. "You don't have the stomach."

"Dude, I already said it. I'm an Akimichi, I'm _all _stomach."

Tsurugi paled.

"But, I think I can slow down the expansion, so you don't get torn apart," Chouji added. "It'll still hurt though. Broken bones, internal bleeding... you'll probably be eating through a straw for a while, and that's no fun... or you could just get the hell off me and surrender," Chouji suggested. "You're already twenty-something, so waiting six months 'til the next Chuunin Exam isn't gonna do you much harm."

"You... ruthless little brat."

"You make it sound like I _want _to do this," the younger shinobi replied sadly. "I really don't, but I gotta try. I came here 'cause I want to be a Chuunin, and I'm ready to _fight_ for that."

"Pfft." Shikamaru scoffed. _Chouji, we both know that's a load of crap. But you're making it sound pretty convincing, I'll give you that._

"Alright, alright, fine!" Tsurugi snarled and released Chouji. "I give."

"Didn't see this coming," Hayate muttered, then coughed. "Winner by forfeit, Chouji Akimichi."

"Sorry," Chouji mumbled to his defeated opponent, then returned to Shikamaru's side and resumed eating.

"Nice one, Chouji. You didn't even have to move to beat him. I hope my match is that effortless." Shikamaru sighed, and leaned back. "Imagine me having to fight Sasuke Uchiha or Rock Lee. They're probably the toughest two here now that Naruto, Hinata, and that Suna kid already went. That'd be a drag."

_It left a bad taste in my mouth, _Chouji mused sadly. _Why didn't I let him win? I didn't have to do that to him... was it because I didn't want to let Ino and Shikamaru and Kurenai-sensei down? I mean, sure I was nice about it, I didn't hurt him and I tried to make it easy for him, but why? Why'd I take that win from him? _"Gah, I gotta think on this for a while..."

"Think on what?" Shikamaru replied immediately, then blinked. "Oh. You're conflicted over that match, and feeling bad about taking a potential promotion from that guy."

"Shika, you gotta know by now, that's creepy," Chouji grumbled. "And yeah, you read my mind perfectly."

"You want me to explain it?" Shikamaru offered.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" the larger boy shrugged.

"You made a spur-of-the-moment decision that you wanted to try and become a Chuunin. For that brief moment, you were motivated. You wanted to win, and I gotta tell you buddy, in the long run you're in for a lot of work if you keep making choices like that. But you're the kind of guy who won't complain, 'cause you're gonna _choose_ to get the job done, every time. You might not think so, since it's pretty subtle, but you're a hard worker deep down." He thumped his best friend on the back, and finished sadly, "My condolences."

"A... hard worker..." Chouji repeated quietly. _Well, that's not so bad... _

_Kiba Inuzuka vs. Kin Tsuchi._

"Hm." Shikamaru smirked. "Kin Tsuchi, so that's her name... we saw the abilities of her teammates in the Forest of Death, when we saved Team Seven, but I never did find out what she can do. And Kiba Inuzuka... no one's heard jack from him or his Jounin sensei Asuma for two months. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's been training in seclusion." his smirk broadened into a grin. "Then we get into the fun guessing. There's only two possible reasons Kiba would need to train outside Konoha."

"Oh?" Chouji asked with his fist already in a fresh bag of chips.

"One, he's practicing an overly destructive jutsu that can damage a shinobi training ground... or more likely, he and Asuma were creating an entirely new jutsu in secret. A jutsu like that couldn't rely on ninken, since Asuma isn't an Inuzuka, although I guess Asuma could have just been supervising... but I find it a lot more likely that it was an elemental jutsu. I know Asuma, and I know his elements are Fire and Wind Release. Wind's absurdly rare, but Fire Release is common in Konoha. So it's most likely a new Fire Release ninjutsu, but with this limited amount of information, I'm just guessing."

"Why couldn't it be a jutsu that already exists?"

"It could be, but if that were the case, Kiba would be more likely to just use a training ground. But a new jutsu would have two reasons to practice it in secret. One, he wants it to surprise his competitors here, and two, a ninjutsu being developed is easier to figure out and reverse-engineer than the finished product. Now, Kiba surely wouldn't know that, but Asuma would, and surviving long enough to get to Jounin-level inherently requires constant vigilance. You've gotta be a little bit paranoid. So Asuma helps Kiba create a new jutsu in secret, what with Suna-nin already being in the village to potentially stumble onto this jutsu..."

"...I get it," Chouji announced. "Somebody from another village could study the jutsu as it was being made, which is a rare oppurtunity since a finished jutsu is a lot harder to reverse-engineer. Anything to get an edge over the competition."

"Exactly. Looking at a jutsu being made is like... recording a puzzle being put together by someone else, and then going over the video a few times until you can put the pieces in place. Even an incomplete video like that is a huge help. But a finished ninjutsu is like someone showing you the finished puzzle, shoving a bag of pieces at you, and saying 'build that.'"

"You know, that was pretty much all spot-on," Kiba commented, directly behind Shikamaru. "Asuma-sensei wasn't kidding about you being a genius."

"Heh. I wish I could say I try," Shikamaru replied.

"Your match is gonna be fun to watch," Kiba remarked. "You're probably gonna win with strategy, which says a lot. Most Genin, me included, just throw our best jutsu in and hope to overpower the opponent. Most of us just don't have enough ways to fight to use a bunch in a complex plan. You though... Asuma-sensei tells me you can work with just about anything."

"Is that what he says?"

"Nah. His exact words were, 'If that kid ever got motivated enough, he'd be Hokage in three months, and ruler of the known world in maybe two years. But I swear to Kami I'm gonna beat that kid at shogi, just once in my life.'"

"Then Asuma knows too much," Shikamaru decided quietly. "I'll have to kill him, which is a drag. He was a damn good shogi player."

Kiba blinked.

"I'm kidding." Shikamaru yawned and stretched. "Why the hell would I want to take over the world? I'm still not sure I even have the drive to become a Chuunin. Taking over the world means you've gotta keep managing the world, and that's _way _too troublesome for me."

"Kiba Inuzuka," Hayate called, "are you coming down here or are you forfeiting?"

Kiba took a running jump, vaulted over the railing of the balcony, and landed on all fours in the sand-filled arena. "I'm ready," he declared.

Kin smirked. "You are... _ready_? Do you know the full extent of what sound can do to the human body? Used properly, it can completely destroy your hearing and therefore your balance. I can cause you to hallucinate, feel your entire body vibrate and shake painfully, taste your own blood in your mouth, and... well, I haven't yet learned a way to manipulate your sense of smell with sound... still, four of your five senses bend to my whim, and you tell me you are _ready_?"

"There's something really important you should know about the Inuzuka Clan," Kiba countered. "I could beat you with only my sense of smell, not that it'll come to that."

"Begin."

Kin whipped out three senbon and threw them at Kiba, who promptly burst into red flames without moving. The senbon and the bells fixed to them were melted into droplets of bright orange metal that bounced off Kiba's Hellhound Flame Armor, scattering and sizzling on the floor of sand.

"Senbon... they're getting more and more popular these days. Smaller, and harder to follow than a kunai or shuriken. You can carry a lot more. They're great for delivering poisons, and then there's that bell trick you just tried. They're versatile. So imagine the advantage someone could potentially have, if they were completely immune to senbon."

"Damn you," Kin snarled, and whipped a senbon at Kiba's right eye. The younger boy flinched backward and blinked, but the senbon was still liquified harmlessly. "What kind of jutsu is that?"

"A completely new one," Kiba replied. "I call it nintaijutsu." Akamaru's ducked his head inside Kiba's hoodie, and the swell in the fabric holding his tiny body went flat. Kiba's limbs cracked as they grew longer, and white fur sprouted over his entire body. He hunched over, snarling through his new canine muzzzle, "Hellhound Mode: Level One, Baskerville!"

"Die, bastard!" Kin roared, and began throwing dozens of senbon at once. Kiba merely sprinted forward through the attack on all fours. She jumped away as far as she could, scowling, but Kiba turned to follow her. _This damned berserk monster... Even if I deploy my bell senbon and trigger the sound waves with ninja wire, by the time I've finished he'll already be tearing me apart, and the sound takes too long to kick in. That jutsu just won't stop him in time..._

"Just give up!" Kiba commanded, and lunged forward close enough to swipe at her. His claws tore at and burned her snakeskin-patterned scarf.

"You'll have to do better than this to break me!" Kin shouted back, and discarded her flaming scarf. She drew a kunai from her weapons pouch, with five bells tied to the pommel ring. "Melt this, bastard!"

Kiba twisted to the side, dodging the blade cleanly. "You've got guts," he snarled, and delivered a hard punch to her belly. "If I wanted to, I could've let the kunai and your hand pass through my flames when I dodged. You'd be lucky not to lose it completely." Kin doubled over and coughed, but brought up her kunai again to stab Kiba, who sidestepped the attack. "You'll also notice your chest isn't on fire from my punch," he added, and Kin stopped. "I could've killed you."

"...You hesitated. You didn't do it, you're a coward, I can still beat you! If you can't take a life you can't win!" she roared and spun to attack him again. Kiba triggered the seal on his ring, releasing his own bright silver kunai to counter her attack.

Kiba sighed. "Alright, fine! Jeez, If you wanna get knocked out that badly I'll do it."

"...Huh?"

Kiba dropped his kunai, dodged Kin's final, halfhearted slash, suppresed the flames on his right hand, and punched her in the jaw. She crumpled. "Proctor, call the match," Kiba declared as he extinguished his flames and turned to leave. _My Hellhound Mode isn't meant to defeat people and leave them alive. I gotta learn some kind of jutsu to knock people out when I don't want to kill 'em. Particularly since I've got a good chance of fighting a classmate in the next test, whatever it is._

Kiba yelped in pain and tried to reach around to the spot on his back where he'd been stabbed. "...What the hell?"

"You hit like my little sister," Kin announced with a smirk. "It's over." Kiba heard a bell tinkle, his vision blurred, and he collapsed backward into the sand.

A hand clamped itself down on Naruto's shoulder, and he yelped. "What the-"

"Quiet." Gaara stepped forward into Naruto's peripheral vision. "Take a good look at each of the Jounin in this room. One stands out from the others."

"I know, I recognized his chakra with the Rinnegan." Naruto glanced at Orochimaru, disguised as an Oto Jounin. "I don't know what to do though."

"If he intended to make a move toward you," the redhead noted grimly, "The chance passed him by. You were sufficiently drained after our match for him to capture you, but you were surrounded by allies."

"That leaves Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto realized, and glanced toward the last inheritor of the Sharingan. The boy was watching the match intently with his doujutsu turned off. "He was marked with a Cursed Seal like I was."

"And you surely recall how painful that mark was. It will weaken him in his battle; he'll be distracted enough to receive some form of injury. That's when Orochimaru will strike, when Sasuke is alone."

"Except he won't be."

Gaara nodded. "I made a friend. She asked me to watch over her fellow Konoha-nin."

"I'll go with you." Naruto flipped a thumbs-up. "My match is done, so I don't have to worry about missing it."

Hinata wrapped her hand around his. "Only if I go with you. I still have plenty of chakra left, enough for a few Rasengan..."

"...and I was drained almost dry by that Asura Path trick. I see your point." he locked his fingers together with hers and squeezed them softly. "Okay, that's three of us. Maybe four, depending on what condition Kiba's in when he finally beats this Oto girl," Naruto finished in a more serious tone.

"You still think he'll win?" Gaara asked, watching as Kin speared Kiba with several more senbon.

"Notice how he's not in his Hellhound Mode anymore," Naruto replied, pointing to Kiba's face. Gaara blinked, noting that his features were completely human.

"And Akamaru isn't in his hoodie," Hinata added with her Byakugan active. "He's behind Kin, look."

The eyes of every Genin in the room widened when Kiba unsealed another silver kunai and launched it at Kin, who dodged with a look of shock on her face. Kiba, meanwhile, scrambled to his feet and began sprinting toward his foe on all fours. "Now, Akamaru!" the dog barked loudly in reply, causing Kin to whirl around and face the rapidly approaching fire-wrapped ball of fur. "Fang Passing Fang!" Kiba roared, and spun like a drill as he tackled Kin from behind whilst Akamaru did the same to her front.

Human and hound passed each other, both spinning like horizontal tornadoes. Kin was spun around by Akamaru's impact, but she managed to realize that Kiba had missed her completely. Akamaru bounded toward his master while Kin tried to prepare for the next attack. As the white puppy melted into his skin, Kiba growled and stood. _I didn't wanna have to do this yet, but she's tough. _"Hellhound Mode: Level Two, Cerberus!"

Now seeing through three sets of eyes, all of which were no longer hallucinating, and all of which were glaring menacingly at Kin, who took a step back and whispered, "D-Demon..."

Kiba growled, and stalked forward on soft and silent paws. The only sound in the arena was his aura of scarlet flames crackling. He bared his three sets of razor-sharp teeth, and breathed out a dense cloud of black smoke, then continued to approach through it, treating Kin to the sight of his monstrous, fiery silhouette through the smoke and darkness.

"I surrender!" she declared frantically. "Just don't come any closer!"

"Your terms are... acceptable," the monster decided reluctantly, and breathed out more ash and smoke, a dense enough cloud to blot out the firelight within. Then Kiba emerged from the cloud, fully human and softly stroking Akamaru's fur.

"Kin Tsuchi has forfeited," Hayate declared, then coughed. "The winner is Kiba Inuzuka."

"What the hell _are_ you?" she demanded, eyes wide.

"Sorry about that," Kiba put up his fur-lined hood. "I hope I don't have to use that kind of power again in this exam, and I'm sure you can imagine why." _Now, most of the competition is rightfully terrified of me and Akamaru. Hell, the kids from outside Konoha probably even think I'm some kind of demon..._

Moments later, Kakashi Hatake frowned, glaring with his one exposed eye at the screen. _Sasuke Uchiha vs. Shino Aburame. _"Of all the rotten luck..." he muttered.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked at his sensei's side.

"Remember what I told you about the Cursed Seal, Sasuke. Using your chakra will most likely trigger the seal, and we can't have that. But you're up against an Aburame. Their insects pull out the victim's chakra and devour it. In other words, getting hit by a single one of Shino's beetles will activate your chakra network, causing you intense pain from the seal. What's worse is that a momentary distraction from that pain will likely give Shino the chance to attack you with more beetles. By my guess, it'll take maybe six kikaichu to trigger the seal outright."

"...Damn it," Sasuke muttered.

"It's all right. It just means we'll have to do this earlier than I thought..." Kakashi paused, then called out, "Proctor! I need you to postpone Sasuke's match for the next fifteen minutes. I can give a full explanation as to why, but not here and now. If that explanation isn't satisfactory I can offer to completely withdraw Sasuke from the exams, assuming he wins this match of course, and in exchange Shino Aburame will take his place in the finals on grounds of Sasuke cheating through me."

Hayate blinked, then coughed. "...Acceptable. Make it fast."

Kakashi promptly disappeared with a confused Sasuke in tow. Naruto scowled across the room, watching Orochimaru smirk and follow Kakashi outside. "Hina-chan, Gaara, and Kiba, follow me."

"What's going on?" Kiba asked quickly. "Where are we going?"

"We're gonna stop Orochimaru," Naruto whispered back, relying on Kiba's exceptional hearing to catch what he said. "You did great in your match, by the way, but how much chakra do you have left?"

"I'd say maybe half my reserves," Kiba answered. "That smoke cloud was an Ash Pile Burning, and I spent most of the fight in Baskerville Mode. I only used Cerberus for a few seconds, but it's still a powerful jutsu that can eat through my chakra pretty quickly."

"All in all," Gaara noted, "I'm by far the most powerful weapon we currently have. I've had a demon sealed within me since birth, and it's been feeding my chakra reserves ever since. I can still fight at the same level I did against Naruto."

"Keep in mind," Hinata added, "Our objective isn't to defeat Orochimaru outright. With Sharingan Kakashi on our side though, we should be able to deter him. He'll know not to engage us in a drawn-out fight, because that'll attract the attention of the ANBU squads that have probably been prowling the area since we found out he was here in Konoha."

"The Hokage knows for a fact that Orochimaru wants a Sharingan," Gaara observed.

"Which means Sasuke's probably being shadowed by ANBU everywhere he goes," Kiba continued.

"Which means we've got plenty of backup," Naruto finished. "We can do this."

**Please Review!**


	16. Sasuke's Curse

_Thanks to griffin blackwood, *Guest,* Steam Powered Crow, zigmas, Rose Tiger, Kayse, Lyanah twice (welcome back!), Musical cake, imortalshadows, *Ninja-San,* AnimeLover431, Dragon Man 180, lugialegend233, and NaruHinafanficfan1 for reviewing. _

_In just under two months this story has reached 100,000 words. How could I not mention something that awesome?_

_Oh, and I've been forgetting to mention this since chapter 12: the cutlass Naruto is using was inspired by a real weapon available from Cold Steel Knives. The link to the page for it, the 1917 Saber, can be found on my profile. _

_griffin blackwood: Thanks, Gaara and Tenten are going to be really fun characters to write._

_*Guest:* I know. I'm planning to revise all of the chapters posted so far, so I should probably clarify that way back in chapter 1._

_Steam Powered Crow: I can neither confirm nor deny any speculation on future Gaara/Tenten pairings, however I can confirm that Gaara will not be in a romantic relationship pre-timeskip. The guy's twelve, and at this point barely sane enough to make friends. He's just not ready._

_zigmas: Ah, okay. I really need to catch up with the manga, especially once we get into Part II of this fic. Seriously, I'm on episode 23 of Shippuden. _

_Rose Tiger: I intend to._

_Kayse: That's not a dumb question at all! Transforming into Cerberus Mode makes Kiba and Akamaru into one being, just like Baskerville Mode, except Cerberus Mode combines their minds too, so Akamaru was able to think clearly, and that effect passed on to Kiba since they were sharing the same brain. Also, since Cerberus is so drastically different from their normal bodies, any injuries they go into it with won't appear on the new body, and small-scale injuries like damage to the inner ear is completely healed. It's not exactly a healing factor like Naruto has, since most injuries will reappear when they go back to normal. Only the really small stuff stays healed when they change back._

_Lyanah (1): Yeah, thanks for the help, and now I've made up my mind. The changes to the summary and Chapter 1's author's note should be there by the time anyone reads this. I've decided to say KekkeiGenkai!Naruto to avoid the spoilers that would come from saying Rinnegan!Naruto. That's a really good point you brought up with Hinata and the exam scroll. I still think the rules were meant to test the trustworthiness of a ninja delivering documents being sent by Konoha itself, but your point makes just as much sense. The Yashamaru thing is another mistake I'll have to sort out when I revise the story, thanks for that. _

_Lyanah (2): I even laughed when I was writing those lines. That was a fun chapter to write. As for Kurama, I have a plan for where his story is going and how the Eight Trigrams Seal will be dealt with. I can say this much: Minato will step in at some point, and make his opinion known._

_Muscial cake: Yeah, he's getting there. I haven't yet seen Sai in the anime, but I'd compare Gaara's current mental state to what I've read about Sai: he just doesn't understand people yet, even though he wants to. _

_imortalshadows: Yeah, it was more like a week, and I tried to make it believable, but..._

_*Ninja-San:* Thanks. I don't plan on slowing down my writing anytime soon._

_AnimeLover431: Everything I just said to Ninja-San._

_Dragon Man 180: Once again, I am not at liberty to discuss future pairings involving Gaara and Tenten. I wasn't sure how anyone would react to Chouji's fight, so I'm glad you liked it. _

_lugialegend233: both very good questions. Akamaru and Kiba's Hellhound Mode is a lot like the Inuzuka Clan's combination transformations, but with Fire Release chakra added to them. They're smaller and less powerful than the Double Headed Wolf for instance, since Kiba's still a Genin and Akamaru's still a puppy, but they're also formed differently. Rather than using a transformation jutsu, the Hellhound Mode Jutsu actually combines them together directly into one body. In Baskerville Mode, Kiba is in full control. In Cerberus Mode, they control the body together as a hive mind. When and if they develop a third level, it'll be Akamaru in control of the body. As for Hinata, she doesn't yet have the skill to perform a proper Water Release: Rasengan, since it's something Minato, Jiraiya and Kakashi all failed to do. However, she can use actual water as a substitute for a water nature transformation, resulting in a somewhat weaker version of what the Water Release: Rasengan will be capable of when she develops it properly. This will be explained more later._

_NaruHinafanficfan1: Read on and see..._

X

"Kakashi Hatake?" the blond boy reached out and extended a hand with a friendly smile. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. We've never met, but I've heard a bit about you."

"Likewise," the Jounin replied with a confused expression hidden under his mask. "And you brought friends, I see."

The six shinobi were currently alone in secluded, dark room. The area around them was lit with a few candles, showing where the floor had been swept clean of dust, replaced by a complex circular sealing formula Naruto didn't recognize.

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga," added a white-eyed girl next to Naruto, smiling.

"Kiba Inuzuka," the third continued, then nodded to Sasuke who was currently unconscious and in a slumped sitting position in the middle of the seal, shirtless to display Orochimaru's Cursed Seal on his neck. "And he's apparently in no condition to introduce himself."

"Gaara," the fourth said simply.

"But what are you all doing here?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder. "Listen, we don't have much time. I don't know how much you've been told about the situation with Oto-" Kakashi's visible eye widened, "-but Orochimaru's probably on his way here right now. The only reason we could possibly have gotten here before him is because he's taking the time to bring along some backup."

"Not necessarily true," Stated a sixth voice, and the others all flinched before turning to see the newcomer step into the light. It was a man wearing a cracked and bloody ANBU mask, which Kakashi recognized. It belonged to one of the guards that had been stationed outside the room. "Orochimaru-sama knew better than to come here outright, and so he told me to act as his proxy. I then decided to send my own proxy, since you're a powerful shinobi with little reason to let me live once I'm done delivering my message." The ANBU removed his mask to reveal a stab wound in the dead center of his forehead, likely from a kunai.

"Using a dead man's body as a puppet," Kakashi observed. "But it's more than that, since you can talk through it, and I see no chakra threads... the Dead Soul Jutsu?"

"That's right. A personal favorite of mine." The newcomer replaced his mask, and stepped forward. Naruto, Hinata and Kiba all unsealed their weapons at once. Kakashi drew a kunai, but Gaara made no move at all. "Settle down. I'm only here, like I said, to deliver a message." The corpse held out the envelope in its right hand.

"Letters are a popular way to deliver a lethal trap to an enemy," Kakashi noted.

"Conveniently enough," the dead ANBU countered, "We have a Byakugan user here. She can see through the envelope right now and tell you it's safe. Orochimaru-sama might be a little disappointed that the first person to read it was a Genin, but that hardly matters."

Hinata triggered her doujutsu, and nodded. "It's fine, there's no fuinjutsu, no explosives, poisoned paper or any other kind of trap I can recognize. Just a letter bearing Orochimaru's signature."

"Fine." Kakashi put away his dagger. "Throw it to me."

The zombie obliged, and Kakashi caught the letter, immediately tearing it open. His uncovered eye widened as he read the first few lines. "He's... still planning to attack. And he's telling us that to our faces? Why?"

"Personally? I think it's because it amuses him. He'll get more kicks out of beating Konoha into the ground when you're fully prepared for it. I happen to think he's gotten a little overconfident with the new plan he's made to compensate for Suna switching sides."

Kakashi kept reading. "This letter says... if Konoha briefs any shinobi under the rank of Special Jounin intentionally on this subject, Orochimaru will attack immediately." he glared down at the paper. "Damn it."

"Naturally, those already informed, such as these Genin, are exempt." The corpse gestured to Team Eight and Gaara. "I'm not sure whether they're allowed to spread the word to their friends, so if you want to take that chance, by all means go ahead."

"So," the Jounin demanded in an icy tone, "Is that all you came here for?"

"That's right." The ANBU corpse chuckled, then jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "He, however, insisted on coming here to collect Sasuke Uchiha's eyes. Seeing as Naruto and the Hyuuga heiress are here as well, I suppose we might as well capitalize."

Mizuki stepped into the light, grinning evilly.

"You," Naruto growled. "Shouldn't you be licking your wounds from the last time Hina-chan and I kicked your sorry ass?"

"Che." Mizuki drew his trademark Fuuma Shuriken from his back while the ANBU corpse collapsed to the floor. "I was going easy on you up until the bit with the pool, and by that point you guys were prepared enough to squeak out a lucky win. I'm gonna kill you this time."

"My my, someone's overconfident," Kakashi replied. "Have you forgotten who else is here? Sharingan Kakashi the legendary Copy Ninja?"

"The container of the One-Tail as well," Gaara added.

Naruto pointed to Hinata, himself and Sasuke. "All three Great Doujutsu, don't forget that."

"I feel so damn left out," Kiba threw in. "I mean sure, Akamaru and I can kick his ass too, but I just don't _sound _as intimidating."

Mizuki shrugged. "Fun fact: Oto's been developing soldier pills that poison the user ten times slower than Konoha's. They're experimental and pricey, but the results speak for themselves." he produced a bright blue pill from his pouch and popped it into his mouth.

"Hey, that reminds me," Naruto spoke up, "I'm almost out of chakra. Can anybody spare a soldier pill? I'll pay you back when we're through with this guy."

"Eh, fine." Kiba tossed him a pill. "You better pay me back for that. It's not easy to get one on a Genin's budget."

"I'm good for it, believe it!" Naruto replied, then bit down on the pill, crunching it a few times before swallowing. After a moment, he felt his chakra reserves begin to refill quickly. "Oh yeah, that's more like it. Is everybody ready?"

"One moment." Hinata released the blades hidden within her staff, then aimed a fearsome glare at Mizuki with her Byakugan active. "Now I'm ready."

"Hellhound Flame Armor," Kiba added simply.

Gaara calmly released the sand in his gourd. "If at all possible, I'd like the chance to make good on my threat to him. I'll remove his arms and legs so we can capture him safely."

Kakashi blinked. _These kids... they're completely ready to fight Mizuki on their own, knowing full well what he can do. That's impressive, and in this situation, helpful. _"The four of you hold off Mizuki. I'll seal Sasuke's juinjutsu and watch over him until he wakes up."

"Sounds good to me," Naruto replied with a feral grin aimed at Mizuki. "Bring it, ya slimeball."

Mizuki grinned back and threw his shuriken at Naruto, who swiped it aside with his cutlass. _Good move, kid, _the Kyuubi observed in Naruto's inner world. _You can't risk dodging with Sasuke and Kakashi behind you._

_Yeah, you're stating the obvious, but thanks anyway. Any suggestions?_

_Make a lot of noise. There are plenty of ANBU on patrol, watching the exams. All you have to do is get their attention, and they'll be on Mizuki in seconds._

_But that's not your style, and it sure as hell ain't mine, _Naruto answered. _We're gonna take him down ourselves. _

_I expect nothing less from my host. _

Naruto chuckled, and wordlessly triggered his Rinnegan. "Shinra Tens-"

"Summoning Jutsu." In an instant, Mizuki had Naruto by the throat, dangling in his iron grip for the second time. His Cursed Seal was already spreading over his skin. "I warned you." he drew back his left hand for a bone-shattering punch. "I won't hold back this time!"

_Damn it! _Naruto bared his teeth in frustration and brought up his left hand between himself and Mizuki. "Banshou Tenin!" he roared in the missing-nin's face, and watched as Mizuki's punch was pulled toward his left palm rather than his face. He winced at the force of the impact, but pulled back his right hand and the cutlass it gripped to impale Mizuki.

"Not bad," Mizuki admitted, and exploded into smoke as Naruto's blade struck home. The blond boy gasped for air as his throat was released, and he fell to his knees. "Not bad at all." Another Mizuki stepped from the shadows, a good distance away from Naruto. "How many of me can you gut though?"

"You swallowed a pill before you poofed," Naruto recalled. "That was the real you that was choking me, but you Substituted with a clone before I could gut you, right?"

"Like I said, not bad at all." Mizuki smirked. "With all this backup, you might manage to entertain me for a while before you die." A mass of Gaara's sand flew forward at him, but Mizuki dodged the attack smoothly. "Like hell I'm getting caught up in that stuff again, brat."

"If he doesn't catch you, I will," Hinata shot back, and threw her bladed staff. Mizuki sidestepped, but Hinata used a Substitution on the seal-marked weapon, reappearing behind her target with a Rasengan already in hand. "Just like this!"

"Substitution?" Mizuki realized out loud in a shocked tone, then angled his back so the spare Fuuma Shuriken on it would catch the attack. _She's pretty good, and that jutsu packs a punch, but... _a second shadow clone used a Substitution of its own to switch places with him instantaneously, and the real Mizuki watched from his new hiding place in the shadows as his clone leapt forward, letting Hinata stumble after him. Her Rasengan faded into scattering arcs of light blue chakra-infused wind. The clone then readied the battered shuriken on its back to disembowel the younger ninja. _I'm better. It's that simple._

"Shinra Tensei!" The clone was pushed completely off-balance by Naruto's jutsu, and collapsed in front of Hinata, who finished regaining her balance as this happened. "Banshou Tenin!" the boy added, pulling the bladed staff to his hand. He retracted the blades into the handle with a pulse of his chakra, then called, "Hina-chan, catch!"

"Right!" He threw the weapon, and she reached out and snatched the weapon out of the air perfectly. "Thanks!" she released the blades from the shaft again, stabbed and dispelled the clone, and turned to the real Mizuki, hidden perfectly in the shadows. "My Byakugan showed me your clone pulsing its chakra to Substitute with you. I know exactly where you and your six remaining clones are."

_This teamwork is... impressive. Far more so, considering they're Genin. _Kakashi glanced at Kiba, then returned his attention to Sasuke, and clamped his hand down on the last known Uchiha's shoulder, along with the Cursed Seal it bore. "Curse Sealing." Sasuke screamed as the sealing formula crept up off the floor and gathered around Orochimaru's juinjutsu, but Kakashi couldn't be sure whether the boy was conscious or not. _I wonder why Kiba isn't attacking...! _The Jounin's eyes widened as Kiba's features were distorted into something only half-human, and the flames around the newly revealed canine hybrid doubled in intensity and brightness, illuminating the remaining Mizukis. _Ah, he couldn't see them without a doujutsu like his teammates have. _

"...Fine. So you've found me." Mizuki stepped forward, shortly followed by his clones. "Doesn't mean you can stop me."

"Rasengan," Hinata answered, and formed her signature jutsu in her left hand.

Mizuki sneered, and glanced around at his clones, who drew their two Fuuma Shuriken, one in each hand, while the real Mizuki began making hand seals. His clones threw their shuriken all at once, and Hinata saw them close in without any way to dodge them. "Substitution!" her eyes widened momentarily when Naruto switched places with her, placing himself at the center of the attack. "Erasing Wind!" he added, and scattered the Fuuma Shuriken harmlessly over the floor.

_That Substitution trick is getting on my nerves. _Mizuki finished the seal sequence and roared,"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!" He blew out a torrent of bright orange flame that shaped itself into a dragon, twenty feet long and aimed directly at Naruto.

"Water Bullet!" Hinata countered, firing her own attack past Naruto into the dragon's maw. The two jutsu canceled each other out almost immediately; the water was boiled away and the flames winked out in a matter of moments.

"Passing Fang!" Mizuki jumped backward, just barely dodging Kiba's surprise attack. The Inuzuka hit the ground and rolled forward to his feet, releasing a kunai from his ring and firing it at Mizuki, who once again barely dodged. "Fire Ball Jutsu!"

An explosion of orange and crimson flame shot toward Mizuki, who roared in frustration and dodged a third time... stepping directly onto a broad, shallow pile of Gaara's sand. "Ah, come on!" he snarled, and switched places with yet another clone to escape Gaara's Sand Coffin. "Summoning Jutsu!" Gaara was instantly teleported to Mizuki with the latter's hand around his throat, yet showed no sign of emotion. He didn't even bother to uncross his arms. Mizuki blinked at that, but decided to go through with his plan of crushing the boy's throat, only to find that it was as solid as a rock. "What the hell?"

"Sand Coffin."

"Son of a bitch!" he swore, and Substituted with another shadow clone. Gaara crushed it into a cloud of smoke and looked around at the remaining five Mizukis. He saw one clone getting blown to bits with a thrown Rasengan from Hinata, and another trying and failing to dodge a Fire Ball Jutsu from Kiba.

"There's only three more of you left to kill," Gaara pointed out. "What then?"

"Hah! If I wanted, I could fill this whole damn room with shadow clones!"

"And we'd still be cutting through 'em like paper!" Naruto shot back. "Wind Scar!"

"Enough of this crap." Mizuki vanished, and reappeared behind Hinata with a deep humming sound announcing the movement. Her Byakugan showed her the impending danger, and she dodged the kunai stab he'd aimed at the back of her head. She spun around with her bladed staff aimed at his throat. He blinked out of existence again, leaving her weapon to cut through nothing but air.

"What kind of jutsu is that?" Hinata wondered out loud. "No seals, no apparent name... he can do it at a moment's notice..."

"It's called the Pulse Step Jutsu!" Mizuki declared, reappearing in front of Naruto with a Fuuma Shuriken in hand. "Die!"

"Shinra Tensei!" Naruto countered, and Mizuki's weapon was torn out of his grasp and thrown across the room. Naruto whipped his sword at his opponent's face, but Mizuki blocked with a kunai and vanished again.

"Such power..." Kakashi blinked, and looked down at Sasuke, who was now watching the battle with his two-tomoe Sharingan. "They're all so strong, damn it..."

"Sasuke, you shouldn't go so far as to use your Sharingan, with the Curse Sealing so freshly applied. Give your body a minute to adjust."

"No. I can see these jutsu they're using. I can memorize them, and use them myself." Sasuke blinked. "These eyes... what was the point of awakening them if you won't let me use them?"

"Is the Cursed Seal causing you any pain?"

"No," Sasuke answered immediately, watching Naruto fire an Air Bullet at Mizuki across the room. "I'm fine, and I want to see this." _Naruto Uzumaki... I've been hearing the rumours for months, and now I'm seeing it myself. He has the Rinnegan. _

"How the hell is he doing this?" Naruto snarled, and blocked another attack from Mizuki, who then teleported away to attack Gaara.

"It's... high-speed movement."

"What was that?" Kakashi asked, his attention once again drawn by Sasuke.

"It's not teleportation, it's high-speed movement!" Sasuke called out. "He's pulsing chakra into his legs and sprinting forward. There's no way he'd be able to turn at that speed, and he wouldn't be able to move through a wall!"

Naruto grinned. "Thanks! Hina-chan, let's do this! Shunsui Kimono, remember?"

"Shunsui Kimono?" Mizuki repeated. "What the hell kind of jutsu name is that?" He watched Naruto and Hinata approach him with their weapons at the ready. _Alright, I wanna see where this is going. Do your worst, punks! _At first their attack was simple; Naruto and Hinata both attacked with their bladed weapons while Mizuki blocked and dodged. Then, in a complex motion that was clearly practiced and rehearsed, Naruto slid off his father's haori, spun, and whipped the cloth into Mizuki's face.

_Sorry, tou-san._

His cutlass sliced the Fourth Hokage's coat in two, and the tip of the blade dragged a shallow cut through Mizuki's chest. The missing-nin used his Pulse Step to retreat again, but Hinata drew a kunai and lauched it at him, using a Substitution to switch places with it near her target so she could attack Mizuki again. _Little fucker actually cut me! _Hinata slipped off her hoodie and threw it in Mizuki's face. _Again? Fuck, I can't Pulse Step if I can't see where I'm going!_

At the last second, one of his clones Substituted with him and was promptly impaled by Hinata, exploding into a cloud of smoke. Mizuki realized what had happened, and pulled the tattered hoodie away, but by then it was too late. Hinata's spear was already in mid-throw, and it impaled him before he could dodge with a Pulse Step. He glared down at the weapon sticking out of his chest, then back up at Hinata and Naruto. "You little bastards... I swear I'm gonna kill you!"

Naruto used a Substitution on Hinata's staff, appearing in front of Mizuki with his sword already pulled back for another swing. "You're mine this time," he declared, and slashed forward. The last of Mizuki's clones Substituted with the original, and was promptly destroyed by Naruto. The real Mizuki then turned toward the door. "I don't think so! Asura Path!" Naruto roared, and formed a wall of metal in the doorway, blocking Mizuki's retreat.

The missing-nin froze, and muttered out loud, "Why... the hell... am I running away from these _kids_?" he turned back to Naruto, and bared his teeth in a cold grin, reaching with his right hand.

"That won't be necessary." Everyone in the room froze, and turned to see Orochimaru in a full Oto Jounin uniform, smirking back at them in front of the door Naruto had previously sealed with the Asura Path. The plate of metal that had filled the doorway was gone, wiped from existence completely. "Mizuki, you showed your power and potential here, but there's one fatal drawback in your skills. Namely, you're an idiot of the highest caliber. No tact, no strategy, and you frequently forget about the vast jutsu vocabulary you can use to deal with any given situation. It's for that reason alone that you have failed to kill Naruto-kun not once, but twice now." the snake's smirk broadened into a grin. "Now then, I've seen what I wanted to see, I've told Konoha what I saw fit for them to know. Come with me, Mizuki."

"We're retreating?" Mizuki growled. "I can beat these guys. Give me three minutes and I can beat 'em."

"Perhaps you can," Orochimaru replied, "But you won't. We're leaving." Mizuki opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when he felt his Cursed Seal receding. "I can understand, just this once, if you've forgotten, but from now on remember that as long as I live, you serve me. That Cursed Seal of Earth binds you to my will, on pain of death."

"...Yes, Orochimaru-sama," Mizuki growled, then glared at Naruto. "I'm still gonna rip those eyes out of your head, demon brat."

Orochimaru turned to Sasuke, and grinned. "I hope to see you at the Chuunin Exam finals, Sasuke-kun. Do me a favor and make sure your eyes are strong and ready for me."

"The next time I see you," Sasuke fired back, "I swear I'll be strong enough to kill you."

"Oh, I doubt that," Orochimaru replied, "but by all means, aim as high as you like. It'll benefit me all the more, in the end..." the Sannin vanished, shortly followed by Mizuki using the Pulse Step.

The remaining shinobi let out a sigh of relief, and Naruto and Hinata put away their weapons. Sasuke mustered the strength to stand, and hesitantly brushed the Cursed Seal with his fingers. When that caused him no pain, he flared his chakra slightly, and still got nothing but a mildly distracting tingle from the mark. "It worked. The pain is gone."

"Good." Kakashi sighed in relief. "So you're ready for your match, then?"

"More than ready." Sasuke grinned. "Now I can use my ninjutsu again. Shino doesn't stand a chance." then he glanced at Naruto and Hinata. "You two are strong, almost as strong as me. I look forward to seeing how my Sharingan matches up against the other two Great Doujutsu."

"Yeah, that should be cool..." Naruto squinted, and deactivated his Rinnegan. "Hey, doesn't the Sharingan normally have three swirls in it? Yours has two... weird."

Sasuke paused, then glared angrily at Naruto. "And just how much do you know about the Sharingan?"

"The usual stuff you can read in textbooks. It lets the user see chakra, take in every detail about every movement an opponent makes, and can see even the best taijutsu attacks coming. By seeing a jutsu performed with that much detail, a Sharingan user can memorize and copy the attack perfectly. And it has _three_ swirly things."

The Uchiha scion frowned. "They're called tomoe, dobe. The Sharingan develops them one at a time, starting with one and ending with three. Mine's not complete yet, but I've been working on it."

"Huh. My Rinnegan's incomplete too," Naruto admitted, immediately confiding in the boy. "It has seven different abilities called Paths, and I've got four of 'em unlocked... and don't call me dobe, teme!" Naruto finished angrily.

"Oh, I'm _really_ gonna enjoy kicking the crap out of you... dobe." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto grinned back. "Like hell! I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, believe it! Make sure you keep those eyes active so you can see it all and remember how badly I kicked your ass!"

"Hn." Sasuke stepped past Team Eight's unofficial leader, still smirking. "That can wait. For now, I have some bugs to step on."

Kakashi watched his student leave, smiling under his mask, then turned his attention to the remaining Genin. "So, how much do you four know about Orochimaru?"

Hinata spoke first. "He's planning to attack Konoha at the end of the Chuunin Exams."

"He killed my father," Gaara added, "Not that I miss him."

Kakashi blinked at that, but turned to Naruto who continued, "He's planning to attack Hokage-sama and kill him, and me and Gaara are gonna help the old man stop him."

Kiba grinned. "That's obvious stuff, guys. I bet nobody thought of this one: Orochimaru has a second spy in Konoha other than Mizuki. Whoever reanimated that ANBU officer was working for Orochimaru, and claimed he wasn't Orochimaru. Two of the Oto Genin in the exam have already fought Konoha-nin and lost, and I doubt the third guy is skilled enough to take out an ANBU. There's no other Oto-nin in Konoha. That means whoever killed that ANBU guy was either Orochimaru himself or a double agent in Konoha's ranks."

"Not bad," Kakashi replied, nodding. "Show that kind of thinking in the exam finals, and you'll probably get promoted to Chuunin. Speaking of which, we should all be heading back to the arena. Sasuke's match is set to begin in less than two minutes, and as his sensei I obviously should be there to watch it."

X

"Begin."

Shino released a black swarm of insects from within his body, and addressed his opponent. "I wonder what could possibly be so important that you risked losing a chance at promotion, and the fact that your Jounin sensei actually condoned whatever it was only makes the incident more perplexing, but I must ask, are you fully prepared now that it's done?"

Sasuke smirked, and ran his hands through his favorite seal sequence. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he drew in a deep breath, and blew out a massive jet of flame. Shino waved his hands at the approaching ninjutsu, and his insects intercepted the attack.

"I see this battle between us will primarily be a ranged one," Shino observed once the fireball dissipated. "Your ninjutsu against my kikaichu."

"How'd you stop my jutsu with bugs? They should've been burnt to a crisp," Sasuke asked, angry and unnerved. He'd expected to win the match with his first attack.

"A great many of them were killed, yes. So why sacrifice them? The kikaichu has a top lifespan of six hours. I can take a hundred beetles, order them to reproduce, and in a matter of minutes, I can have a hundred thousand at my disposal. Those two facts together mean that the insects nesting within my body are completely willing to die in battle for the hive, which is to say me. Likewise, I am willing to order them to their deaths." Shino held out his arms to display dozens of bugs crawling on them. "They don't mind."

"Hn." Sasuke formed a few more seals. "Let's test how far you can push them. Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

"Another familiar Uchiha specialty," Shino noted as a stream of small fireballs shot out of Sasuke's mouth toward him. "The flames of the Phoenix Flower Jutsu are far less intense than those of the Great Fireball." The Aburame directed his insects into the path of the fire projectiles, and watched as each fireball winked out of existence as it touched his defenses. "This allows a properly sized swarm of kikaichu to eat the chakra sustaining the flames, taking minimal damage in return."

"So you're absorbing my chakra through those bugs," Sasuke realized with a scowl.

"Not at all. The kikaichu don't relay eaten chakra to me, in fact they devour my own chakra as well. The price an Aburame pays for control over the colony is his own chakra. I can perform a few low-level jutsu, yes, but if I go too far, the kikaichu won't have enough food to go around. The colony will shrink in size to compensate for my error, and cease to obey me until my reserves are properly refilled."

"Thanks for the tip," Sasuke replied, and drew a kunai. He threw it past Shino and grinned, forming a hand seal. "Substitution."

Naruto and Hinata both opened their eyes wide. "He copied our jutsu with the Sharingan!" Naruto realized angrily. "He must've been watching our fight with-"

"Naruto-kun, shush," Hinata interrupted. "No one else here knows about Mizuki and his employer," she whispered carefully. "Just us, Kiba, and Gaara."

"Oh, right. My bad, Hina-chan. But still, that was _our_ jutsu, damn it."

Sasuke, meanwhile, had reappeared behind Shino, and threw a second kunai at his foe. Shino cried out in pain as the dagger imbedded itself in his back. _Huh. I expected his bugs to block that too, but I guess they can't react if he doesn't see the attack coming. Good. This gives me a chance to try another of the dobe's jutsu. _"Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

"Son of a-" Naruto groaned in exasperation. "How many of our tricks did this bastard get!?"

A volatile sphere of wind and chakra shot forth from Sasuke's hands, but by this point Shino had turned and could see the jutsu coming. He dodged to the side, then directed a swarm of beetles to attack Sasuke, who Substituted with the first kunai he'd thrown. Shino turned. "I haven't forgotten about that first kunai," the insect tamer announced, and threw a kunai of his own at Sasuke, who batted it aside with a third dagger he drew from his pouch.

"Great Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke called, and spat out another explosive gust of orange flames. Shino's kikaichu immediately moved to intercept the attack, but while they did, Sasuke tied the end of a ninja wire to his kunai, then threw it into the flames. With the wall of fire between them, Shino never saw the attack coming, and only managed to react in time to avoid a lethal wound, dodging far enough to the right that the kunai embedded itself in his left arm.

"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Sasuke continued his strategy, and breathed Fire Release chakra onto his end of the ninja wire. A two-foot-wide fireball shot from his hand, following the wire to the kunai in Shino's shoulder where it exploded, sending the Aburame flying. The residual flames of the Great Fireball finished fading, allowing Sasuke a clear view of Shino on the ground with his coat on fire. His insects had already set to work eating the chakra in his jutsu and putting out the flames, but the damage was already done.

"He used one jutsu to hide the second one..." Kakashi observed. "Not bad..."

"Why did he not use a smoke bomb?" Lee queried at his sensei's side. "Surely that would have taken less chakra."

"He could've, but that would tip Shino off that he was about to attack a second time. By using a fireball instead, Shino was misled into thinking he was already blocking Sasuke's attack, and he didn't expect something like a kunai to fly through."

"Shino Aburame is unable to continue the match," Hayate announced, then coughed a few times. "The winner is Sasuke Uchiha." A team of medics arrived with a stretcher and helped Shino into it.

"That was pretty slick," Kiba observed. "Maybe I should remember that trick and use it with my own Fire Release."

"Yeah, see how _he_ likes having his jutsu copied," Naruto grumbled with his arms crossed.

_That was too close... _Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and sighed in relief. _I won with the element of suprise and good luck, not power or skill. I'll never be able to kill Itachi at this level, so I need to get stronger. Much, much stronger. _

He glanced over his shoulder in time to see two more names being randomly selected and shown. _Temari vs. Zaku Abumi. _Immediately he heard the sound of feet hitting the sand, and he turned to see a blonde girl armed with an absurdly large fan, walking toward the boy whose arms he'd nearly ripped off in the Forest of Death. _I can tell who's gonna win this one. That Oto kid's a wreck. _

_You seem to be very proud of these arms of yours. You must be... very attached to them._

"Hey. Zaku." The boy turned to see Sasuke with his Sharingan active, smirking at him. "Your arms should be healed by next month. I'll see you then... try not to get them broken again." Zaku shuddered and stepped back. "I wonder just what you'll be doing, a month from now."

_He knows. Oh dear Kami he knows about the invasion. _Zaku's eyes widened as Sasuke stepped forward, and he pulled his right arm out of its sling, aiming the weaponized sound cannon at the Konoha Genin. "S-Stay the hell a-away from me! D-Don't come any closer!"

"What are you all jumpy about?" Sasuke asked innocently. "I'm just leaving the arena." he stepped forward again.

"You're a f-fucking monster!" Zaku roared frantically. "Come any closer and I... I'll k-kill you!"

Sasuke grinned evilly, and said in a low, quiet voice, "What makes you think you can kill a 'fucking monster?'" Zaku retreated another few steps. "Get a hold of yourself, you lunatic! I'm not doing anything to you!" Sasuke called in a much louder voice, then quickly left the arena, leaving a shellshocked Oto Genin to face the beating of his life.

_If Orochimaru's going to curse me with a juinjutsu, then send ninjas to kill me, there's no way I'm gonna make it easy for him, or his goons. I'll fight that bastard every step of the way, whether I do it through messing with his subordinates' heads, or ramming a kunai through his heart myself. _

Temari drew her war fan out of the holster on her back and unfolded it. "Last time I checked, you were fighting me, not Sasuke, so get ready."

"Begin."

Zaku turned back to Temari and aimed his right palm at her. "If I use my full power on you, I can show him I'm still a threat! Maybe then he won't come after me!" Zaku decided, and roared, "Slicing Sound Wave!" A near-invisible wall of wind and sound waves shot out of his palm, and Temari's eyes widened. The attack tore into the sand on its path between Zaku and Temari, throwing up a cloud of sand that broke the line of sight between both fighters. Zaku laughed shakily, and lowered his arm back into its sling. "I... did it."

"You think so?" Temari called through the dust cloud, and Zaku yelped. A cluster of Wind Release chakra blades cut through the cloud, and Zaku dodged them in a panic. "Don't you know who I am?" she continued as the dust cleared. "I'm Temari of the Desert, from the Village Hidden in the Sand! The princess of the ninja village in the Land of _Wind!_" she lifted her fan over her head with both hands. "And you thought a half-assed wind attack like that was gonna defeat me? Heh, take a good look at a real wind jutsu!" she finished, and whipped her fan downward, slinging more wind blades at Zaku.

"Don't get cocky with me!" Zaku yelled back, and pulled his arm out of its sling again. "Slicing Sound Wave!" The two attacks slammed together and exploded in all directions with less force, leaving both Genin unharmed.

"Is that the only jutsu you can do?" Temari lunged through the aftermath of their wind jutsu, with her fan closed. "Then I bet you've got no counter to a close-range attack!"

"Ha! You'll never even get close to me!" _As crazy as this feels, my sound waves aren't working. I gotta try something else. _Zaku reached into his pouch and drew out a handful of shuriken, and flicked them all at Temari. The Suna fighter smirked, her entire body flickered in rapid movement, and the shuriken passed clearly through her. Zaku's eyes widened, then he cracked a vicious grin, laughing. "I shoulda known! No one can stop my Slicing Sound Wave! Genjutsu, Release!" he clapped his hands together in a seal and pulsed his chakra.

Temari chuckled. "You've got it all wrong, you idiot. This is the real thing." she resumed her approach, and swung her closed fan at Zaku, who drew a kunai to block just in time. As they both drew their weapons back for another swing, Zaku noticed the edge of his kunai was worn off. "Yeah, you noticed it pretty quickly!" Temari grinned, and swung her fan again. Zaku dodged, and took the oppurtunity to examine Temari's fan as it passed him.

"Whoa," Naruto breathed with his Rinnegan active. "She's flowing her chakra through the fan and adding her wind affinity to it. It's like a Wind Blade, but smaller, and so much harder to see. That's pretty cool."

"Temari is a Wind Release prodigy," Gaara informed him. "As the daughter of the Kazekage, she has had access to everything she's ever wanted, and she used that advantage to get her hands on jutsu scrolls, elite Jounin tutors, and the highest quality weapons such as that fan, to train and perfect her Wind Release skills..."

"...and her ability to plan ahead strategically," Shikamaru finished, smirking.

"That's right," Gaara replied. "What would you know about it?"

"She's good, I can see that." Shikamaru gestured to where Temari was still attacking Zaku with her folded war fan. "She's not just planning the moves of this battle in advance, she's treating the whole match as the first move in her strategy: terrify whoever she faces next. That's why she's attacking at close range. Once Zaku starts thinking he can cope with her level of skill, she'll reveal that close range is her worst skill, which it obviously is. Wind Release users mostly excel at long range." The Nara scion chuckled dryly. "It's working on me, at least. She's even scarier than my mom."

As if on cue, Zaku perfectly dodged a swing of her fan and nicked her arm with a thrown kunai. "You're never gonna beat the Village Hidden in Sound, bitch! Not if this is your best!" he drew his left arm out of its sling as well, and aimed both his hands at Temari. "Slicing Sound Wave!"

"My best?" Temari laughed somwhere behind him, and he cut off his attack to turn and face her. "I figured, with you being a Wind Release like me, you'd know better than to say something that stupid. Close range is where I can do the _least _damage." Zaku's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Temari flying around at a leisurely pace on her unfolded fan, and she smirked at his shocked reaction. "It's time to educate you... on how a _real _wind user does battle!"

Zaku felt her killing intent pulsing viciously, and he began to panic even more. She leaned back and backflipped out of her sitting position on the fan, which then glided upward, folded, and dropped straight back down into her hands. She unfolded it again and pulled it back for another swing, and Zaku aimed his hands for one last shot. "Great Slicing Sound Wave!"

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

Zaku's attack was much larger and more intimidating than Temari's, but her Wind Scythe cut through it and scattered it harmlessly, continuing toward Zaku without slowing down. The boy screamed, just before the tornado of wind blades engulfed him, throwing him up into the air and holding him there. "Tsk." _I held back and kept my Wind Scythe at a non-lethal level, and his jutsu still couldn't even slow mine down. Pathetic. _She folded her fan and slammed one end into the sand on the arena floor, then watched Zaku fall out of the fading whirlwind, with the base of his spine landing on her fan. "Proctor, call it. He's not getting up."

"Zaku Abumi is unable to continue the match. Winner, Temari of the Desert."

Temari stepped forward and grabbed the unconscious Genin's right hand to examine it. "Ha, I thought so. Little punk wasn't even a wind user. He just had some kind of wind-based weapon embedded in his arms. I'm almost ashamed that he fooled me into thinking I was fighting an actual wind user for this long." She shoved him off the top of her fan, sending him falling facefirst into the sand so she could retrieve her weapon.

Shikamaru's smirk faded. _I can't believe I've been missing it for this long... There's only four competitors left. One guy from Suna, Yoroi Akadou, Rock Lee, and me. The Suna kid's a wild card for me; I've got no idea what he can do. Yoroi can suck people's chakra out of their bodies through physical contact, but if I fought him I'd probably still have time to use my Shadow Possession Jutsu. He's the ideal opponent for me to fight, but... If I go up against Lee..._

_Kankurou vs. Yoroi Akadou._

"...Troublesome."

**Please Review!**


	17. Troublesome

_Thank you, Fritter, *Pyros1,* Dragon Man 180, mmendoza688, 4fireking, griffin blackwood, Flameraven1, wbreek, NaruHinafanficfan1, and *That Guy* (seriously, you have the best timing ever) for reviewing._

_Fritter: I know, it's a drag._

_*Pyros1:* You're absolutely right, Sasuke shouldn't have been able to learn the Wind Scar because Naruto used his sword instead of hand seals, so I went back and replaced that jutsu with the Air Bullet in his fight against Shino. Thanks for pointing that out._

_Dragon Man 180: Mizuki's unnatural use of the Summoning Jutsu will be explained later. For now I can just say it's a kinjutsu, one that's considered morally wrong like the Edo Tensei. You're right, I messed up with Sasuke fighting Shino after the Curse Sealing. He shouldn't have been able to do that. However, I must protest the term 'Uchiha ass-kissing' re: Sasuke learning Naruto's and Hinata's jutsu. He used the Sharingan for that, in fact he used the first ability of the Sharingan that was ever demonstrated in the series. _

_mmendoza688: I really tried to make that fight turn out well, but I'm not sure how people are gonna take it..._

_4fireking: Yeah sure, why not._

_griffin blackwood: Thanks._

_Flameraven1: I wasn't particularly happy to eliminate Shino, but I felt it had to be done. The substitution jutsu Naruto and Hinata are using is actually just a basic substitution being used in a different way. Sasuke just learned a new way to use an existing jutsu. Kakashi being able to apparently copy every non-bloodline jutsu he sees, which to me implies that he doesn't need an affinity to use a learned jutsu, or maybe learning a jutsu gives him that affinity... I'm just guessing, based on the fact that Kakashi has four confirmed affinities, that he probably has the fifth, wind, as well, and I think he got those through the Sharingan._

_wbreeck: Thanks. I love how even the people who stop reading my story are nice enough to leave a polite review anyway, that's just awesome._

_NaruHinafanficfan1: I'm trying to write Sasuke's character and abilities fairly, since I'm not a fan of him but I also don't hate him. He's a supporting character with an important part to play. _

_*That Guy:* I realize that I made that rather confusing, so I went back and fixed it: The only match the Hokage actually set up was Naruto vs. Gaara. The others were random, so Konoha's not really cheating. I do agree that it was stupid for Shikamaru to be the only one who got a promotion, so you can expect several Genin to get promoted this time._

_Story stats after two months (October 15, 2013): 17 Chapters, 106,500 words, 172 reviews, 39,000 views, 11 C2s, 169 favs, 252 alerts. You guys are awesome, thank you so much._

X

"...Troublesome."

_Kankurou vs. Yoroi Akadou._

A man wearing a Konoha forehead protector, a bandanna, sunglasses, and a cowl over the rest of his face leapt down from the balcony into the artificial desert that filled the arena. "Finally!" he said with a yawn. "I was getting damn tired of waiting and watching these punks throw each other around!"

"Hmph." Kankurou jumped into the arena as Yoroi had done, then set down the bundle of white cloth he carried on his back, letting it sink slightly into the sand. Once that was done, he removed his hand, letting it stand upright on its own. "And now it's your turn," Kankurou replied, "To get thrown around, that is."

"Cocky little shit," Yoroi chuckled. "I'm not gonna lose it over trash talk that weak, so save your breath."

"Begin."

Kankurou started by drawing a kunai from his pouch and flinging it at Yoroi, who casually dodged it while sprinting toward the oldest Sand Sibling. _His speed isn't bad. He can dodge a thrown blade easily enough, so it should be interesting to see how he handles the weapons Crow can fire. Now let's see what he can do with offense._

"You should be running away, brat!" Yoroi cackled, aiming his open palm at Kankurou's head. The strike connected, and the older Genin grasped the younger's head. "What? What the hell is this?" he clamped his left hand down on Kankurou as well. "The chakra in your body isn't laid out in a tenketsu network, it's just floating on your skin... shit! A puppet!?" Yoroi retreated several steps, and Crow's head fell limply backward, revealing to all the spectators its true nature. The layer of chakra-filled sand that disguised Crow was crumbling away where Yoroi had sucked out the chakra.

"I call bullshit! The real guy's not even in the arena!"

"Oh, but I am," Kankurou tore free of the white bundle his puppet had been carrying, and grinned. "And now I know what you can do. You absorbed my chakra out of Crow's sand shell, and you severed the chakra string that supports his head, not that that's a problem. I can send a fresh string to my puppets as long as I can aim my hand, and if I can't... well." Kankurou smirked. "If I can't move my hands properly, then I can't control Crow anyway. You can't disable Crow without getting to me first, and that's just not gonna happen."

To demonstrate, the puppeteer shot a chakra string into the back of Crow's head, and pushed it back upright. The machine clacked and rattled eerily as it moved. Yoroi scowled back at the inhuman, three-eyed face of the puppet, then lunged forward and grabbed its face again. The construct fell limp, and collapsed to the ground once Yoroi let it. A loud shattering sound came from its remaining sand shell as it landed. "So what happens when I take out all the chakra strings at once, like that?"

Kankurou's eyes widened in horror, and Yoroi stalked toward him with an evil grin. When the Konoha Genin got halfway between Kankurou and his puppet, however, Kankurou snorted and burst out laughing. "I... I'm sorry," he choked out while still laughing. "It's just... you suck so bad at being scary!"

"What the hell...?" Yoroi cried out in shock and pain when a blade stabbed out the front of his belly. "But I destroyed the strings!" he turned and saw that only Crow's detached arm was wielding the blade that had impaled him. The puppet's other pieces were floating further behind him.

"Yep. And I made new ones." Kankurou smirked at his injured foe, just before Yoroi felt a smoke bomb slam into the back of his head and explode there, releasing a cloud of dark purple gas that enveloped him. Yoroi fell to his hands and knees, coughing and choking on the gas. "Proctor, that's poison he's breathing in. It won't kill him if the effects are counteracted in time, but the more he struggles, the faster it spreads into his bloodstream. It doubles as a venom too, meaning it can enter his body through his wound along with his lungs. I can have Crow release the antidote gas, but you know what the condition is for that."

"Very well. Whether or not Yoroi Akadou can keep fighting is irrelevant," Hayate called loudly. "The winner is clear. I award the match to Kankurou no Sabaku."

Kankurou smirked more broadly, and reassembled Crow outside the poison cloud. The puppet's third eye retracted into its head, replaced by a white smoke bomb that it fired. In mere seconds, the purple cloud faded away, revealing an unconscious and facedown Yoroi. A medic team immediately carried him away, and Kankurou silently left the arena.

"What a drag... nothing to do about it though. It's my turn." Shikamaru lazily wandered down the stairs into the sand-filled arena, passing Kankurou while his youthful opponent simply leapt over the railing. _If I play my cards right, I might actually get through this with only a minor beating, and then Kurenai-sensei and mom won't do anything to make me regret being born... _He reached behind his back and shifted his weapons pouch from his left side to his right.

"It is about time!" Lee raved. "The flames of my youth have only grown brighter as I watched all of these youthful matches! I am fired up!" he continued to shout skyward.

"Can you tone it down?" Shikamaru asked as he arrived in the arena. "And do me a favor. I'm hoping to take a nap after this, so don't start screaming your head off about how glorious my flames of youth are."

"Those are fighting words, Shikamaru-kun! You are implying that you will defeat me!" Lee beamed, his teeth glinted, and he took up a Strong Fist stance.

"I will." The Nara heir stretched and yawned. "It's gonna be such a drag though."

"I apologize, Shikamaru-kun, but I must point out that your attitude is extremely unyouthful! We should proceed with this match and display the magnificence that is our youth without complaint!"

"Begin."

Lee blurred forward with frightening speed, and Shikamaru allowed him to approach with his hands tucked into his pockets. He took a punch to the jaw, two to the ribs, and then a flying roundhouse kick to the temple before he could even initiate his plan, by which point he had been sent flying, and was in incredible pain. "Why did you not defend yourself or dodge?" Lee asked, confused. "I understand that you specialize in Nara Clan ninjutsu, but surely you have some aptitude in taijutsu... You could have reacted."

"I could've... and I did." Shikamaru picked himself up, groaning, then aimed a smirk at Lee, who was now only eight feet away. "Shadow Possession Jutsu, successful."

"What?" Lee's eyes widened even more than usual. "But you never made any hand seals..."

"...Which meant I sacrificed a lot of extra chakra to perform the jutsu without you noticing." Shikamaru looked down, an action Lee was forced to imitate, showing him that his shadow was conjoined to Shikamaru's. "That's step one. Now for step two, the shuriken." he reached into his thigh holster, pulling out a small four-bladed throwing star, and took several steps back. Lee did the same, noting with surprise that he held a shuriken in his own hand.

"Surely you do not intend to throw that shuriken?" Lee stared at the weapon in his own hand. "It will only lead to me throwing my own!"

"I know."

Lee grinned. "I see! It seems I have misjudged you greatly, Shikamaru-kun! You are fearless indeed, and that is a most youthful trait!"

"Don't get too excited. I'm gonna dodge." Shikamaru threw his blade, forcing Lee to do the same. Both shuriken neared the other ninja's throat, and both ninjas leaned back to dodge. Lee, however, smashed the back of his head into a stone wall. "See?" Shikamaru asked no one in particular. "Always keep an eye on your surroundings."

"I'll keep that in mind! Thank you for that wise advice!" Lee stood up and grinned.

"Troublesome..." _What the hell is this guy made of? Damn... looks like I have to go to step three. What a drag._

Lee resumed his stance. "Our shadows are still connected!" He proclaimed. "It seems I can move now because you are letting me!"

"Thanks for pointing that out," Shikamaru replied, and pulsed some chakra into their conjoined shadow, forcing Lee to take up the same slouching pose Shikamaru was in. "Now, for step three. The kunai. I didn't want to do this, Lee, you're a nice guy, but if I don't give this my all, my mom'll kill me." Shikamaru reached into his weapons pouch, producing a typical shinobi dagger.

Lee blinked when he saw his hand come up empty. "What is this? Surely my hand should have pulled a kunai from my own pouch!"

"It would've, but your hand never went into your pouch. Yours is behind your left hip." Shikamaru turned slightly to show that his wasn't in the same place. "I moved mine before the match started."

Lee nodded, dead serious by this point. "I see. So now you possess a deadly weapon and the means to use it, whilst I am unarmed and paralyzed."

"Yep. Sorry about this." Shikamaru walked forward, and Lee approached him as well. The Nara extended his dagger-wielding hand and placed the tip of the kunai against Lee's left bicep. "Looks like a torture setup, doesn't it? But I know you're never gonna give up under torture. That's why the placement of the knife is _here_." he jabbed forward slightly, and Lee winced. "It's a drag, I know... look, there's a large artery in that spot on your arm. If I stab you there, you'll pass out from blood loss in under a minute, but the medics will be able to fix you up with a blood pill and a quick healing job."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"'Cause it's gonna hurt like a bitch. I'm offering you a fair chance to forfeit and walk away without any injuries."

"Never. I appreciate your offer, and I must say you are truly a youthful and respectable shinobi, but I cannot back down! I can still win! Gate of Opening, OPEN!"

"You can open the Eight Gates... That's pretty impressive," Shikamaru complimented him. "But this jutsu won't let you control them, or any of your tenketsu. The only parts of your body you can freely control are your eyes, mouth, and of course your lungs. You gotta be able to breathe, after all." Shikamaru stabbed Lee's arm, and felt the taijutsu master's empty hand prod his bicep in return. "Sorry." he pulled the dagger back out of the wound, and winced as Lee's blood began to flow out of it.

"Your apology is heartfelt," Lee replied, gritting his teeth through the pain, "But this is not over yet. I will overpower your jutsu and continue to fight!" he strained against the Shadow Possession, growling at the pain in his left arm but successfully moving his right arm. He pulled back his fist and aimed it at Shikamaru, who scowled and leapt away.

_Even at such close range, he overpowered my shadow almost as soon as he started trying. I don't know what Might Guy's been doing to this kid, but it's sure as hell working. _"Troublesome," the Nara muttered as Lee approached. He couldn't move fast enough to dodge, and he was once again punched in the face by his fellow Konoha-nin. Lee's blow sent him flying, but the green-clad boy followed Shikamaru through the air.

"I have less than a minute to knock you unconscious before I bleed out!" Lee announced, and delivered a kick that bruised and nearky cracked two of the shadow wielder's ribs. "Please do not mistake this for anger or hard feelings!" he continued, and stooped to punch Shikamaru again, who in return hastily poured his chakra into his shadow to briefly paralyze Lee while he retreated.

The Nara scion scowled, and once again considered forfeiting the match, but before he could come to a decision, Lee stumbled in his pursuit, and fell to his hands and knees. Lee cried out from the pain of supporting his weight with his injured left arm, and Shikamaru flinched. _I don't even WANT to be a Chuunin! Why the hell am I doing this? Lee's worked his ass off to get this far, and I... _"I forf-"_ Wait. Lee... wouldn't want that._

Lee collapsed facefirst into the sand, and his vision quickly started fading to black. _I am sorry, Guy-sensei, Kakashi-sensei. I will become a Chuunin during the next exam, I swear... just... six months..._

"Rock Lee can no longer continue the match. Winner, Shikamaru Nara."

Shikamaru sighed, and turned to leave the arena with his head hung low. "Too late," he whispered to himself. _I was too late to forfeit. If I had've given up, I would've made it all for nothing. Lee was already incapacitated, they wouldn't have let him pass. Damn it! _A medic-nin team quickly arrived with a stretcher, and carried Lee away. _Damn it..._

"And with that match, the Third Exam preliminaries are now finished," Hayate Gekkou declared with authority." The next few minutes passed in a dull blur for Shikamaru, who could right now only think of the word _Troublesome. _However, he snapped back to reality when he heard the Hokage announce, "...accordingly, the final battles will commence one month from now. To decide who will be facing who in the finals, please, in a calm orderly fashion, all of you will step forward and take one slip of paper from this box." the Third gestured to the bright orange box in Anko's hands.

"Just stay there," the snake summoner announced, "I'll come to you." she approached Chouji first, who reached in and pulled out a piece of paper.

"I've got a number one on mine," he said, and shrugged. "What's it mean?"

"Patience," the Hokage replied.

"I got nine," Naruto announced when he unfolded his paper.

"Two," Sasuke said simply.

"Four," Temari declared.

"Five," Shikamaru read aloud, and scowled. _I can just feel that this is gonna be a drag._

"Mine says eight," Hinata added.

"I have three," Kiba announced.

"Six," Kankurou finished.

"And that leaves seven for Tenten." The Hokage smiled. "So the initial matches for the tournament are as follows: Naruto Uzumaki versus Hinata Hyuuga, Kankurou versus Tenten, Temari versus Shikamaru Nara, and Sasuke Uchiha versus Kiba Inuzuka."

"What about me?" Chouji asked.

"In the second round of the tournament, you'll be inserted into a three-way match with two of the semifinalists, who will be randomly selected. Since Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka eliminated each other, the other semifinal match will be a one-on-one match as opposed to a three-way as had been intended."

"Why not have five initial matches?" Kiba asked curiously.

"Simple. Five initial matches means five initial winners," Hayate explained, then interrupted himself with a cough. "The original plan would have been to have two Genin skip to the semifinals, so both matches would be three-ways, but since Sakura and Ino fought to a draw, we're stuck with the same result we'd tried to avoid: One match with two competitors and one with three. If it hadn't been for that, Chouji would have fought Sakura or Ino in the first round, then both the winner and loser would proceed to the three-way match. All six semifinalists would have each been in a single prior match, making it fair for everyone."

"Ah."

"Wait..." Naruto murmured, "Hina-chan, we're gonna be fighting each other?"

"It... looks that way, but..." Hinata steeled herself, and added, "I think that's a good thing."

Naruto gaped. "You... wanna fight me? Did I do something to upset you?"

"N-No!" Hinata exclaimed. "It's not like that! It's just..." she blushed and looked down, even though she'd been trying to break the habit. "Do you remember how after my match with Neji, I said I wanted to be as strong as you? So I can always be there to help you whenever we have to fight. We've sparred lots of times, but that's different. I want to really see just how close we are in strength. I want to know for sure that I'm keeping up with you, and I want to show you that you can lean on me, and count on me, and never have to worry about keeping me safe."

"Okay... Okay! We'll go all out, and show each other just how strong we are. But you don't have to worry about 'keeping up with me,' ya know. You could be stronger than me, a lot stronger, so don't sell yourself short."

"S-Stronger than you?" Hinata repeated, wide-eyed. "But you're... you're..."

Naruto grinned. "I'm a twelve-year-old who has a Great Doujutsu, and can perform a wide variety of powerful jutsu significantly above Genin-level with relative ease, and I'm the heir to a powerful clan. You fit that description perfectly too. As for Kurama, he's locked up in that seal so perfectly that I can't use his power at all. You and I are evenly matched." his grin faded, and he added, "I just don't get where all this is coming from. We fought Mizuki-teme today and you were the one who actually landed a serious hit on him."

Hinata blinked. "I... I did!" she beamed. "We fought him together... exactly like I've always wanted. So why? Why was I always so worried?"

"You mean, what made you think you had to prove you were strong? That's obvious," Naruto said darkly. "It's what _they_ wanted you to think."

"They..." Hinata echoed. "You mean Hiashi-sama."

"Him, and all those other Hyuugas who put you down and said you were weak." Naruto scowled.

"I'll prove them wrong, then," Hinata smiled. "In our match. We'll show them how strong we are, and make them eat their words when they see it." she paused, and glanced down in thought. "Come to think of it... Hiashi-sama said yesterday that he was planning to call you to the Hyuuga compound for dinner, soon. He wants to talk to you about what happened in Wave."

Naruto recalled the meeting with the Hokage. "When I used the Rinnegan for the first time."

"To bring me back from the dead," Hinata added firmly. "You broke the laws of nature and defied death itself for me. I don't think Hiashi-sama is going to have anything bad to say to you about Wave."

Naruto blinked. "Hey, Hina-chan... usually you'd blush and stutter when you say something like that." he grinned. "You're getting more confident."

"I feel that way," she admitted. "Naruto... would you like to go to Ichiraku Ramen today, and make Teuchi-jiji a very happy man?"

Naruto grinned. "The Beef Ramen Battle to the Death?" he asked excitedly. Hinata nodded. "You're on!" he added with a challenging grin. "Today's the day I reclaim my crown!"

"Naruto-kun, the record is twelve to seventeen in favor of me," she pointed out quietly. "And last time I beat you by eleven bowls."

"...Damn."

"What the hell is a Beef Ramen Battle to the Death?" Kiba asked.

"It was Naruto's idea," Hinata admitted. "It's an eating contest at Ichiraku's. He's posted the rules on the wall, but it's really simple: The winner pays for the loser's meal, and the loser pays for the winner's meal. That way, both of us still pay, but the winner pays less."

"And you said you beat _Naruto_? By _eleven bowls_? Of _ramen_?"

"Consistently," Naruto threw in. "Last time I stopped at thirty-two, and she was at forty-three." He threw an arm over her shoulders and sighed, drawing a quiet 'eep' from Hinata. "A girl after my own heart."

"N-Naruto-k-kun everyone is l-looking..."

Naruto glanced over at Hinata, who was blushing her own personal shade of dark red. "Oh, sorry!" he quickly retracted his arm, and looked around at the remaining Konoha Genin, all of whom had seen the action. "Well... that secret's out," he decided with a shrug. "Your dad's probably gonna try to kill me now."

X

Two young Genin, a boy and a girl, stepped into Ichiraku Ramen later that day. Just before he passed under the roof of the restaurant, the boy glanced up at the now sunny sky, and smiled.

"You're pretty cheery," the girl observed. "What's up?"

"I don't like the rain," the Jinchuuriki admitted. "It's... just nice to see the sun again."

Ayame greeted the two customers with a grin as they sat down next to each other. "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! What'll you have?"

"...I'd like a bowl of beef ramen," the boy decided, after a quick glance at the wall. A paper titled _Beef Ramen Battle to the Death_ was nailed to it.

"Same here," added the girl, smirking at the paper on the wall. "Naruto... you come up with some weird stuff. To the death. Heh." Tenten giggled.

"That has something to do with Naruto?" Gaara asked, as his bowl was placed in front of him.

"Naruto lives on this stuff," the weapons specialist replied. "He managed to addict Hinata to it too, and they sometimes come here to have one-on-one eating contests. It's called a battle 'to the death' because the amount of ramen they can shovel down would kill most people."

Gaara snapped his pair of chopsticks apart, then glanced back at the paper. "The current record is held by... Hinata Hyuuga, at forty-three bowls of beef ramen," he read, then shook his head. "That can't possibly be right."

"Actually, I saw that," Tenten smirked. "They had a crowd watching that time, and I was passing through."

"So much publicity," the old man behind the counter sighed in reminiscence.

"How could someone eat so much of the same thing, and not get tired of it?" the bearer of the One-Tail brought a few noodles to his mouth as he considered this, and took his first bite of Ichiraku Ramen. "...Actually, never mind. That explains it perfectly." he took several more mouthfuls, then paused. "Still, forty-three bowls. That's... inhuman."

"A lot of the customers who come here have their own theories on how they manage it," Ayame noted with a suppressed giggle at Gaara's confusion. "The most popular one is that Hinata can expel chakra from her whole body as she eats, using up the energy she gets from the ramen. As for Naruto... well, I know he's come in here for a lot of those contests completely exhausted. I guess he's trying to burn up as much chakra as he can before he starts eating, to even the playing field a little."

"So, Gaara," Tenten began, "What's Suna like?"

Gaara set down his chopsticks. "I'm sure you can guess that it's surrounded by a desert. The village is built inside what was once a small volcano. It's open to the sky, but it's surrounded on all sides by a wall of rock that could never be constructed. It _never _rains there," he added firmly. "I can't tell you much about the villagers, other than the fact they despise me. But I can tell you that they're rather fond of a market in the eastern section of the village, where merchants sell their imported goods. Food from the Land of Waves, weapons and armor from Kumo, apparently Mizu produced quality medicines and poisons along with blades... to be honest, almost every village exported weaponry to this market. I saw a few stalls selling swords and kunai marked with Konoha's swirling leaf."

"Were they selling?" Tenten asked jokingly. "'Cause if Suna likes our blades, maybe I should start exporting some of my weapons."

"Ah, so you make them yourself," Gaara realized.

"What, you didn't think I could _buy_ that many weapons did you? On a Genin's budget?" Tenten laughed, then fell silent and glanced at her left forearm. An absurdly expensive ANBU kunai was sheathed there. "Hey, Gaara, are you sure you don't want this thing-"

"TO THE DEATH!"

"-back?" Tenten turned around to see Naruto and Hinata approaching Ichiraku's. "Hey, Naruto, Hinata!" she waved.

Naruto glanced from Tenten to Gaara, then back to Tenten. "Wait a second," he murmured, and sat down next to them. "Are you two on a date?"

Tenten blushed slightly. "Naruto, you can't just blurt something like that out! It makes people uncomfortable!"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess you're right. I shouldn't be buggin' you two, after all me and Hina-chan know how it feels. Oi, Teuchi-jiji, me and Hinata _to the death!_" he declared with an excited grin, which Teuchi returned.

"Round one coming right up!"

"So, Naru-kun, I was thinking..." Hinata paused, and glanced at Ayame and Teuchi, then continued quietly, "The situation with Oto is more important than us suprising each other with new jutsu. So we should train together over the next month, since we always make better progress that way, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, and that way we can have Pervy Sage train us both at the same time. We don't have to take turns with him, ya know?"

Hinata nodded, then frowned. "Naruto, when you were knocked out in the Forest of Death, I fought Orochimaru. He mentioned that your Cursed Seal absorbed something called 'natural energy' and converted it into chakra. He called it senjutsu."

"Sage Techniques," Naruto realized. "Sage, as in Toad Sage. Kurama mentioned senjutsu too when we were breaking the Cursed Seal together. And 'natural energy...' that could be what our doujutsu are seeing."

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Next time we see Jiraiya-sensei, I think we should mention this to him. He might know how to fight an opponent with a Cursed Seal. He might know how to remove one."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed. "That's brilliant, Hina-chan! He could get rid of Sasuke's seal!" he froze when a bowl of ramen each was placed in front of him and Hinata. "This is gonna be awesome..."

Two hours later, the sun touched the horizon. Naruto and Hinata were still eating. "Teuchi-jiji," Naruto called wearily, "How many bowls did we go through so far? I lost count, ya know."

"You're at forty-three, Naruto." Teuchi pointed to four neat stacks of ten used bowls each, and a fifth one with three bowls.

"Eh... One more." Naruto burped quietly. "New record!" he called cheerily, then yawned and stretched. "Then I'm going to bed, believe it. Hina-chan, how many did you eat?"

"Fifty-two," she admitted sheepishly. "Sorry Naruto-kun, but I won again."

"It's truly an honor to bask in the radiant glory of the Ramen Goddess," the Jinchuuriki declared without a hint of sarcasm. "I'd get on my knees, but I'd have to stand up for that." he burped again, then groaned. "Why do I do this to myself?"

Hinata giggled. "You say that every time I win."

"And I always mean it." he yawned again. "Eh... make number forty-four to go, jiji. I gotta get some sleep."

X

In a dark, damp cave at the edge of the Land of Fire, created with the Earth Release by a team of Oto Jounin, two shinobi stood in silence. Before them, six coffins rose upright from the ground, one of which immediately began to crack open.

Orochimaru grinned and licked his lips with anticipation. "Kabuto, clearly I chose my apprentice well... Even I would never have considered such use of the Impure World Reincarnation. Splendid."

"It is, isn't it?" Kabuto replied. "A few dozen soldiers like these would match the entirety of the army Suna is bringing to the table." He pushed up his glasses with a smirk. "I admit, though, I have your own expertise to thank. If you hadn't taught me the jutsu, it would have taken me years to decipher it myself."

"Even just six of them will be a force to be reckoned with. Every suitable candidate we find from now on is an additional advantage we have over Konoha." The first coffin's lid cracked further. "So tell me, who is this first one you're showing me?"

"Just watch," Kabuto replied with a grin. "I think you'll find the surprise is well worth the wait. This one is the most impressive specimen I've been able to procure. For the small price of a single Genin's life, I give you..."

The coffin shattered completely into small fragments of wood, and its occupant stepped forward. He was a middle-aged man with red-brown hair and black eyes, wearing an unadorned, tattered black robe that covered him from neck to toe. "You two again," he growled upon seeing the missing-nin. "Was killing me not enough for you?"

"...the Fourth Kazekage, Tsurugi of the Gold Dust," Kabuto finished with eminent pride.

"Ah..." Orochimaru grinned. "So you took his DNA after we killed him, I see. And were you planning to tell me of this?"

Kabuto's smirk never faltered. "I suppose not. I'd intended to learn and use the Impure World Reincarnation for my own purposes, whether you gave me its secrets or not. Surely you wouldn't begrudge me making an effort to further my own goals? I may be your subordinate, but I have my own future to consider after all."

"Hm." The Sannin chuckled. "Tell me then, Kabuto. Just what other assets have you laid hands on, to 'further your own goals?'"

"Well, admittedly I have none so impressive as Tsurugi-sama here," Kabuto gestured to the clearly angry Kazekage, "The other five coffins you see here are simple missing-nin from assorted villages, that showed Jounin-level skills when I or we encountered them. We still have a month to further prepare our forces, however, and I'm certain I can gather more valuable DNA samples in that time frame. In fact, I've approached a certain former coworker of yours about more samples he can provide freely. Sasori of the Red Sand."

"Ah... the human puppets he's crafted and collected from renowned and powerful shinobi. Some of them have kekkei genkai that still function, which means they likely still have traces of their DNA." Orochimaru frowned. "He was an agreeable man to work with... tell me, what has he asked for in return?"

"A live Naruto Uzumaki. After we've removed his eyes, of course." Kabuto's smirk broadened. "He was willing to... sweeten the deal with additional DNA traces, if we were to leave one Rinnegan eye for him."

"Ah, Sasori. Always seeking more weapons to install. Another kekkei genkai, another exotic poison, another famed blade." the snake smiled sadly. "There is the small matter of Mizuki wanting one Rinnegan eye, but he does already bear my Cursed Seal. He can never betray me, whether I hold up my end of the bargain or not, the poor fool."

"But here's a counterpoint: why give an Akatsuki member such a powerful doujutsu? In the long run their goals _will _conflict with ours. If they had two Rinnegan users instead of one... ah, imagine how difficult it would be to confront them when the time comes."

"What a dilemma," Orochimaru mused. "Who to stab in the back, Mizuki or Sasori?"

"At first glance, it seems Mizuki is the better choice. He's already bound to your will after all. But why not both? Give _me_ the second Rinnegan." Kabuto grinned. "You'll be increasing the power of your loyal right hand, preventing Akatsuki from gaining even more power, and teaching Mizuki a valuable lesson. He's an idiot."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that last bit. He's learning to use his jutsu repertoire as we speak, or at least he'd better learn if he expects to survive his training with Kimimaro and Juugo. By the time we invade Konoha, he'll have enough competence on the battlefield to successfully capture Sasuke, whilst I deal with the old man and Naruto-kun." Orochimaru licked his lips. "Excellent work thus far, Kabuto. Keep it up, and you might just earn that Rinnegan eye." he turned, and as he walked away he added, "Install Cursed Seals on any of them below Jounin-level."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

**Please Review!**


	18. S-rank?

_Thanks to grifffin blackwood, Fritter, zigmas, Kin Hisagi, *awesomeguy,* Musical cake, Ayrmed, IncandescentOne, NaruHinafanficfan1, Dragon Man 180, *Guest,* Shizuka Taiyou twice, and Monsterchizzits for reviewing. _

_griffin blackwood: thanks, it's fun to write too._

_Fritter: When I came up with the Edo Tensei idea, I was trying to take a canon Orochimaru and tell him 'Suna switched sides, so you need to get a better army than you lost.' The answer I came up with after thinking as Orochimaru was 'teach somebody Edo Tensei so they can make zombies while I experiment as usual.' Naturally this person would need sizable chakra reserves and a high intellect to successfully learn and use the jutsu. Kabuto fit the bill. It might indeed be 'a broken plot device' but it's an asset Orochimaru and Kabuto had access to in canon, so I don't want to disregard it from the story._

_zigmas: Hn._

_Kin Hisagi:The idea for the ramen contest and Hinata winning came from an omake in episode 95 of Shippuden. Since I'm not that far in the series yet, I only found out about said omake while reading through character pages on TV Tropes. Yes, I am one of you. Which reminds me, if anyone finds/sets up a tropes page for this story PLEASE tell me in a review or PM or whatever. That would make my freaking year. Anyway, giving Kabuto the Rinnegan wouldn't really make him stronger than Orochimaru if said snake has the other Rinnegan eye. It's really all hypothetical, though, there's no way Naruto's gonna get captured, have his eyes ripped out, then be handed over to Akatsuki to die during the Kyuubi's extraction. And the Fourth Hokage would be an interesting character to use for Edo Tensei, but he's still sealed inside the Shinigami at this point._

_*awesomeguy:* no comment on any speculation regarding canon character deaths being averted in the future. Sorry._

_Musical cake: Sasuke is... a difficult puzzle piece I'm trying to fit in. He has a scene in this chapter that addresses the problem you mentioned. As for Hiashi, he makes his appearance in the next chapter, though I'm expecting that scene to get me a LOT of flames. _

_Ayrmed: Orochimaru either doesn't know or doesn't care. Either way, he'll likely find future interactions with Kabuto... surreal, to say the least._

_IncandescentOne: Ah, damn. Looks like I messed up again. This reviewer pointed out that Naruto shouldn't have known about the Ten-Tails and its interaction with the Sage of Six Paths, as it's an extremely obscure piece of history. I'm really not sure what to do about that..._

_NaruHinafanficfan1: Judging from your reaction to whatever you saw, I guess it was glorious._

_Dragon Man 180: That very serious problem gets dealt with in this chapter, but I think it's fair to point out that it took Sasuke what? Two minutes to learn the Chidori in canon? He was only shown training with it once, right? And that was just to see how many he could use per day. I admit it's overpowered, but the Sharingan can learn ninjutsu like that perfectly. Lee's taijutsu was different. Sasuke learned it and could imitate it, but he wasn't physically fast enough to do so properly, which is why Kakashi trained him for a month to use it on Gaara. _

_*Guest:* Sequel? Do you mean this chapter, or when we get to Part II? At the rate we're going, I can see us finishing Part I in 2-3 months. But there may or may not be an additional story arc before the timeskip..._

_Shizuka Taiyou (1): Me too._

_Shizuka Taiyou (2): Maybe I should've done that instead, hm..._

_Monsterchizzits: That's high praise, thank you._

X

Hinata formed her fifth Rasengan that morning, panting slightly. "Jiraiya-sensei, I don't know how long I can keep this up. I've burned through over half my chakra already."

The sun was still rising over a certain lake just outside of Konoha, and Hinata was standing on its surface wth her signature ninjutsu in hand. Jiraiya was watching from mere feet away, while Naruto worked in the forest nearby, hoping to unlock a new Path of the Rinnegan. "Just once more," Jiraiya assured her. "I'm going to try one more trick, then we're done."

Hinata nodded, and bent down to slam her Rasengan into the surface of the water, forming a whirlpool as it whipped up the water it touched. Slowly, the sphere of chakra began to turn deep blue, and suddenly a teal bubble-like layer of chakra sprang up from the surface of the Rasengan. "Here it is," she declared, and held it out for Jiraiya to see.

The Toad Sage nodded, and closed his eyes, standing perfectly still on the water. "Hinata, don't move, and keep that jutsu just where it is. That's important." Hinata blinked, then nodded. "I said don't move."

"How did you see-"

"Shush." Jiraiya opened his eyes after a few seconds. "It's natural energy. You can't add the nature transformation to your Rasengan by yourself, but with the natural energy in the water, which already has that element..." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The balance between your chakra and the senjutsu chakra isn't quite perfect, but it's close enough to use in battle..."

"Um... senjutsu, and natural energy... I wanted to ask you about that, actually..." Jiraiya blinked. "My Byakugan can see natural energy. And Orochimaru said he can make Cursed Seals and fill them with senjutsu chakra..."

"Ah..." Jiraiya rubbed his forehead, groaning. "Damn it, we have to sort this all out, _right now._" he sighed, and sat down, beckoning Hinata to do the same. "Hinata, I'm going to show you the highest point of my abilities, and then I'm going to tell you a story about the First Hokage."

"The First Hokage?" Hinata sat down next to him, nearly forgetting about the Rasengan she held. She slowly reabsorbed her chakra from the sphere, frowning at how much more difficult it was than normal. Not that it was ever easy; the ability to reabsorb one's chakra from a fully formed jutsu was the height of chakra control. She held her right wrist with her left, and fell perfectly still, concentrating on safely dissolving the Rasengan without hitting anything with it.

When she finished dissolving the Rasengan, she blinked several times in confusion. An odd feeling was flowing throughout her body, and in particular creeping up her right forearm. She turned to look at it, and screamed in horror, forcing Jiraiya to open his eyes.

Her arm was turning to stone.

"Damn it!" Jiraiya roared. "This is something you can't rush through, like with the Rasengan! It's dangerous!" he drew a small stone wand from one of his pockets, roughly the length of a kunai, and whacked Hinata's stone arm with it, hard. She yelped in surprise, but her arm immediately returned to normal. Jiraiya paused, and put away the wand. "How... how did you know how to do that, anyway?"

"I just tried to reabsorb my Rasengan!" she explained frantically. "Then my arm did that!" she shuddered.

Jiraiya clutched his forehead again. "This is giving me such a headache... Hinata, I need you to promise me you'll never do that again. Not with a Water Release: Rasengan, at least."

"O-Okay, I promise. But why? What just happened?"

"You absorbed natural energy directly into your body. To do that safely you need _massive _chakra reserves. And now you know what happens when you _don't _do it safely," he added harshly. Hinata looked down at her arm, and Jiraiya winced. "Sorry, but I really do have to make this clear. Sage Mode can kill you."

"S-Sage Mode?"

"Ah, right. I haven't explained yet. Sage Mode is what you get when you absorb natural energy into your body and balance it properly with your own physical and spiritual energy, the two components of chakra. The result is what's called senjutsu chakra, which is much more potent. In order to use this power, you have to remain perfectly still, and 'become a part of nature' so the natural energy can flow into your body. There are several animal clans that teach their own Sage Mode styles. I learned mine from the Toad Clan, and I was about to show you."

"When I was drawing the chakra out of the Rasengan, I was staying still. That made it easier to draw the chakra in..."

"_What the hell's going on!?_" Naruto roared and leapt through the trees with his sword drawn and his Rinnegan active. "I heard you scream, is everything alright?"

"I-I'm fine, Naruto-kun," she replied, still startled by her arm turning to stone. "I was just training with Jiraiya-sensei, and I messed up. Everything's okay now, though. Don't worry."

"Okay..." he replied hesitantly. "Be careful."

Jiraiya cast an appraising look at Hinata as Naruto vanished back into the forest. "I don't like it when he worries about me instead of himself," she explained sheepishly. "I undestand how he feels. I'm the second person who ever reached out to him, and the closest one to him in the world, so I can see how much he'd be afraid of losing me. That's why I need to show him he has nothing to be afraid of."

Jiraiya smirked. "I gotta write that into my next book," he muttered. "Ah, that can wait. as I was saying, the toads are one of many races of animals that have learned to harness natural energy, and can teach it to humans like myself... and you. Which brings us to Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage."

"So, the First learned senjutsu from his summons?"

"No." Jiraiya grinned. "He figured it out himself, the way you've been doing until now. The story goes that the First was meditating in a grove of trees he formed with his kekkei genkai, the Wood Release. He found himself sitting perfectly still, one with nature, and he could sense an energy in the trees that he hadn't put there. The legends argue over how long it took him to develop a proper Sage Mode, but we do know he developed in in time for, and used it in, his battle against Madara Uchiha, a battle that created the Valley of the End. In fact, it was Hashirama's power amplified through Sage Mode that created the valley."

"So he developed his own Sage Mode... why is that so significant, over just learning it from an animal?"

"My own Sage Mode, in the Toad Clan style, is still incomplete. I can't perfectly balance natural energy into my chakra, which means I take on the physical traits of a toad, and on top of that, even a perfect Toad Sage Mode will still emulate a toad, just slightly so. But Hashirama Senju created his own personal senjutsu style, and the new physical traits he showed were matched to his own body. A Human Sage Mode, unique to an individual wielder."

"Matched to his body," Hinata repeated. "How so?"

"There are artworks that depict the First Hokage, and a few that show him in battle against Madara Uchiha. A few of them are sketches he did personally of his own Sage Mode. The only physical changes he showed were dark facial markings that he believed represented his chakra element. His kekkei genkai, the Wood Release. Now I can't say for sure, but I believe his Sage Mode was vastly more powerful than mine, or any other human's. That could be just because he had more chakra, and could therefore mix more natural energy into it, but... I don't buy that."

"So you believe a Human Sage Mode, being used by a human, is stronger. The way a Toad Sage Mode being used by a toad is stronger than a human Toad Sage can be?" Hinata frowned. "And you want me to try and create my own?"

"Not now. Not with the kind of chakra reserves you have currently, but I suggest you develop those reserves to at least Jounin-level. If you can do that, with your chakra control as a Hyuuga, you might just be able to develop a Human Sage Mode. That'll take you _years, _but there's something else you can already do. Today you showed me something I considered _completely impossible!_ You mixed natural energy into a jutsu you had already formed, and not only that, but you did it with the Rasengan, which is made of chakra spinning at high speeds, when a living being can only gather natural energy when they're completely still."

"I can see how that would seem impossible," Hinata agreed, then glanced down at her formerly petrified arm and hand. "But I have one more question. When I pulled the natural energy out of my Rasengan, I nearly turned to stone! How did Hashirama Senju manage to get Sage Mode right the first time, without turning to stone? Or if he did turn to stone, how did he turn back?"

"No one knows, but if you want my guess, I think... if he got it right the first time, it was luck, but he would still have to balance the natural energy properly every time after that. The First possessed incredible force of will, which might have let him force some excess natural energy out of his body, but he was also a level-headed and serious man when he had to be. He probably absorbed the natural energy very slowly and carefully until he had enough."

"Slowly and carefully..." Hinata triggered her Byakugan and looked around at the natural energy in the forest and the lake. _So much power... it could easily overwhelm anyone I know. Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sensei, Naruto-kun... the First must have been so slow and careful, even with the chakra reserves he had to help him. _"I can see this is going to take me a long time," she said finally, then turned off her Byakugan and stood. "But I _will_ do it one day. I was born able to see this power, and I was lucky enough to have a sensei who can help me with it. I have the motivation to learn it, and I know I'll one day be ready for it. I'm going to be a Sage." She recalled her battle with Neji, and added silently, _this is Fate, Neji-nii. This is the kind of goal people are supposed to reach for._

X

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto roared once again, and pumped as much of his chakra into his hand as he could, slamming it into the ground, hard. A perfect summoning fuinjutsu spread out over the ground, but nothing came out of it, and Naruto groaned. "Ugh, it's like the Clone Jutsu all over again, damn it! Summoning Jutsu!"

This time the seal glowed orange as it appeared, then nothing. _Why are you trying to unlock the Animal Path? _Kurama asked. _The Preta and Naraka Paths seem more like what you'd want._

"The scroll said the Animal Path was a nice stepping stone to the harder Paths," Naruto replied out loud, not bothering to talk in his head. "Honestly I think the Preta Path would be cool. I can absorb ninjutsu with it, as long as I can catch it with my hands, and I have to have enough chakra left to theoretically cast it myself. But what's so special about the Naraka Path? Summoning the King of Hell to interrogate people? Not my style."

_Idiot. First of all, keep it down. You don't know who could be listening. Now, the King of Hell has three powers. One is interrogation; no one can lie to the King of Hell. But the other would interest you far more: healing. The King can heal those who pass through its mouth with your permission. _

_Healing? That actually sounds great, but what's the third power?_

_Transportation. The King can appear in one place, take a person into its mouth, then vanish and reappear somewhere else, still carrying that person._

_Okay, I'm sold. But the scroll said that Path was harder! How am I gonna do it if I can't even figure out the Animal Path?_

_So says the boy who can make a maximum of two clones, and yet he can use the Drilling Air Bullet. _

_Fair enough. _Naruto pulled his mother's scroll out of his pouch, and read the section on the Naraka Path aloud. "The Naraka Path revolves entirely around the use of an entity called the King of Hell. Its powers include forcing a victim to answer questions truthfully or die, healing the user or anyone else he or she desires, and teleporting between given coordinates with passengers in its mouth. To unlock it one must mentally call forth the King of Hell and meet its challenge, then... bleh. Pull out its tongue and sever it. This initiates the summoning contract, blah blah blah..."

Naruto paused. "...The King of Hell is shared by all Rinnegan wielders, and it will refuse to lend its power in a battle between two such individuals, closing off the Naraka Path to both until the conflict is resolved." Naruto frowned. _The fact that anyone knows that means two Rinnegan wielders have fought before. Two Uzumaki Clan members with their doujutsu awakened. _

_Which raises the question: how many Uzumakis before you have awakened the Rinnegan? And how many of those ended up fighting each other?_

_How many of those left Uzushio? _Naruto realized. _How many had kids? _He shook off those thoughts. _It could be none. Even if there are more Uzumakis out there, let them live on peace where they are. Now come fight me, King of Hell!_

"Enma-sama will pull out your tongue." Naruto's eyes widened as a hellish purple cloud of fire rose up out of the ground in front of him. The ethereal image of a giant demon's head flickered within the flames, then solidified and opened its mouth in a roar. "Come to Enma-sama!"

"So that's your name." Naruto summoned his cutlass, and leveled it at the demon. "Naruto-sama will pull out _your_ tongue!"

"You will speak only to answer Enma-sama's questions!" the demon commanded, and Naruto's right hand burst into purple flame, prompting him to drop his sword in pain. The flames vanished, and he clutched his somehow unharmed hand. "What is your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"You lie, Naruto Namikaze!" The beast opened its jaws wide, and an arm of bare flesh with no skin reached for Naruto's mouth.

"I'm not lying. Uzumaki is what I've been called my whole life, and it's the name I've called myself. It's _my_ name!"

The arm retracted into the mouth of the King of Hell. "What is your worst fear?"

"Losing the people I care about."

The demon roared in anger. "Do not hold back the truth! Answer, or Enma-sama will pull out your tongue! What is your _worst_ fear?"

Naruto scowled at the monster. "Hinata dying! That's what I fear over everything else. I could have everyone else turn their back on me, I could see Konoha flattened, I could die failing to prevent it all from happening, and I'd take that over her dying. Are you happy now?" he picked up his sword from the ground, and pointed it at the King again. "Now that I've picked one person over everyone else I care about? _Huh!?_ Is that enough for you?"

"What would you do to save her?"

Naruto's scowl faded, replaced by a confident smirk. "Anything. Just like last time someone asked me that. Now open wide!" The King of Hell opened its jaws again, and its monstrously long tongue slithered out, pointing directly at Naruto's head. He stepped forward and grasped it, then whipped his sword upward and cut off half of the demon's tongue. "Guess what, Enma? You're gonna help me do it! And I won't stop with Hinata. I..."

_I want to show you that you can lean on me, and count on me, and never have to worry about keeping me safe._

"She and I will protect this whole village and everyone in it! We'll stop Akatsuki, save the world, and whatever happens after that, we'll handle that too!" Naruto tossed aside the severed tongue of the demon. "Together."

"...You speak the truth."

"Damn right I do, believe it!"

"You are worthy. Your whim is my command henceforth." The demon closed its bleeding mouth, and vanished along with its flames.

"That leaves two more," Naruto declared, and resealed his sword in his ring. "The Animal and Preta Paths." Naruto deactivated his Rinnegan, and turned to leave the forest in the direction of Hinata and Jiraiya. _Time to talk to Pervy Sage about learining some new jutsu. Any suggestions, Kurama?_

_You have sufficient power to crush your enemies... perhaps one more offensive jutsu for good measure, then learn some defensive and supplementary jutsu. You humans are pathetically frail, and you need to deal with that problem._

_Okay. Supplementary and defensive jutsu to go with my attacks. I think I'm gonna learn some jutsu for all the elements. That's gonna impress whoever hands out the Chuunin promotions. I wonder what Hina-chan's gonna work on. _

Naruto yelped and drew his sword when an ANBU assassin in full gear and a cat mask leapt out of the trees and landed right in front of him. "Naruto Uzumaki?"

"What is it? Ya could've given a friggen warning, ya know!"

"Apologies. Force of habit, I suppose." The ANBU shrugged, and pulled a scroll out of a pocket on his flak jacket. "The memories of some of your more devious pranks might have given me a subliminal motive to return the favor, but I digress. Hokage-sama sent you this." He handed the scroll to Naruto.

Naruto unfurled it, and read aloud, "Report to the Hokage's office to be debriefed on the situation with Mizuki Tora. Bring Hinata, Kiba, and Gaara with you for your..." Naruto blinked.

"What's wrong?" the ANBU asked with innocent concern.

"S-rank mission assignment." Naruto blinked again. "S-RA-"

"Keep it down, you idiot!" the ninja slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, muffling his scream. "You don't go yelling stuff like that out! Village secrets, and all that. I take it this is your first time receiving one?" The ANBU froze, and vanished in front of Naruto to be replaced by a log.

The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened when he saw a kunai speeding toward said log, and he jumped back just before Hinata switched places with her thrown weapon, Byakugan active. "Naruto-kun, are you alright?" she cut him off just before he could reply, and shoved him out of the way of a tree branch that was growing toward them at an unnatural rate.

It stopped several yards away from both Genin, and the ANBU agent descended from the treetops for the second time. "Hinata Hyuuga? What the hell's wrong with you, throwing a deadly weapon at an ANBU elite shinobi? If I hadn't seen you save Naruto from my Wood Release, I'd have assumed you were an assassin under a Transformation Jutsu. Be more careful."

"Wood Release," Hinata repeated, then glanced at the offending tree limb. "You're a Senju?"

"...My codename is Tenzou, and yes, I obtained my kekkei genkai through the First Hokage's DNA. But that isn't important right now. I've fulfilled my mission and I'm done here. Good luck." Tenzou Substituted with another log, vanishing once again.

Hinata turned back to Naruto, and admitted, "I couldn't see his mask from behind. All I saw was a ninja with his hand over your mouth to keep you from screaming... mmf!?" Hinata squealed in surprise when Naruto jumped forward and kissed her, but almost immediately she found herself looking around and realizing one very important fact. _We're... completely... alone out here._

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he was shoved backwards up against a tree by Hinata, who opened her mouth and deepened the kiss. _Holy crap is that her tongue!? _"H-Hina-chan?"

She briefly stopped the kiss to reply, "Yeah?"

"...Where's Pervy Sage?"

Her eyes immediately widened, and she stepped away from Naruto, blushing furiously. She turned on her Byakugan, and spotted Jiraiya thirty feet behind her, giggling and bleeding slightly from the nose. "He... s-saw that."

Naruto flushed with both embarassment and anger, then asked quietly, "Are we gonna kill him?"

"No," she replied, and glared over her shoulder. "We need him to train us, then we can make him _wish_ he was dead. We'll have to let him think we haven't caught him, until then."

"Yeah, how's that going, by the way? Your training?"

"I started learning about senjutsu, and I was learning some new water jutsu when you screamed, and I came here. What about you?"

"Unlocked a new Path of the Rinnegan," he replied. "So, you're learning senjutsu?"

"Not quite learning it, yet," she admitted. "I need to build up my chakra reserves before I can do that, but I'll get there."

Naruto nodded, and a dark thought crossed his mind, bringing out an evil grin. "Hey, I know how we can get back at Pervy Sage right now. You know where he is, right?"

"Mhm." She nodded, and led him to Jiraiya, who blanched when he saw them approaching, but was too scared to run. "Now what?" she asked, standing before a quivering Toad Sage.

"Naraka Path," Naruto said simply, and Jiraiya froze.

The King of Hell rose up from the ground in a plume of purple flames, and roared at Jiraiya, "Did you see something you were not supposed to see?"

"I-I don't-"

"If you lie, Enma-sama will pull out your tongue! What did you see?"

"They kissed," he said weakly, pointing at Naruto and Hinata.

"And what did you do?"

"I-I m-memorized it for a s-scene in my n-next b-book," Jiraiya whimpered.

"And you will not use that memory, will you?"

"N-no, never, I s-swear!"

"Enma," Naruto interrupted. "If you lie, I will pull out your tongue. Are you capable of harming Jiraiya against my orders?"

"No," the monster said immediately, then cast its glare back at Jiraiya. He and Naruto spoke in stereo then: "Remember those words. 'Against my orders.'" Jiraiya nodded, and the King of Hell faded away.

"Pervy Sage, don't ever spy on me and Hina-chan. It's creepy."

"Please don't summon him again!" Jiraiya begged. "I swear I'll never peek on you two again!"

"Deal." Naruto turned to Hinata. "Did I go overboard with that?"

"Maybe a little," she admitted. "But I think we can take his word now."

"As if you couldn't before!" the sage protested, now less terrified and more angry. "And don't get any wrong ideas, I'm not a pedophile. I was gonna make your characters in the book a lot older. Say, early twenties." Jiraiya wiped away the blood from his nose. "Seriously though, don't ever use Enma on me again. I once saw Nagato use him, and I know what he can do."

"Nagato?" Naruto repeated.

"The boy I knew who had the Rinnegan. I'll tell you some other time."

"...Fine," Naruto sighed. "Hina-chan, we need to get Kiba and Gaara anyway. The Hokage wants to see us."

X

Hinata sat perfectly still with her eyes closed in the Hokage's office, with Naruto to her right and Kiba to her left. _Amazing... natural energy flows through this room almost as much as on the lake. I can feel it- _The door swung open, disrupting the natural energy in the room. It retreated away from all four of the Genin, and Hinata's eyes snapped wide open. _Is that what keeps people from absorbing natural energy while moving?_

"I won't waste time here," the Hokage announced firmly as he passed them and slumped into his chair. "I need to know everything you know about Mizuki's abilities. Everything he showed you. I know he has a high-speed movement jutsu that blows the Body Flicker out of the water completely, but I don't know which one."

"Pulse Step," Naruto answered immediately. "He called it the Pulse Step Jutsu."

The Hokage breathed a sigh of relief. "I was afraid it was the Flying Raijin," he admitted. "If Mizuki had the skill to learn that jutsu, then every other jutsu in the scroll would be within his abilities. As it stands, he's a major threat to this village. What else did he use against you?"

"He used a Summoning Jutsu to teleport myself, Naruto-kun, and later Gaara into his grasp," Hinata recalled. "There was also some kind of Fire Release jutsu that he used by cutting himself."

"The Burning Blood Sacrifice creates flames hot enough to incinerate a human body in less than half a second. It's a B-rank kinjutsu," The Professor recited. "not a major problem. There are jutsu that can block it. But if he has the Human Summoning Contract..."

"There's a _Human_ Summoning Contract!?" Naruto asked incredulously. "You mean he can summon anyone he wants, right to his hands?"

"No. It requires the summoner to be able to see and reach for the target." The Hokage unfurled a small scroll he took from his desk, and unsealed the Scroll of Seals within, drawing looks of surprise from Team Eight. "And the contract is here, built into the Scroll of Seals. Mizuki would not be able to copy the contract and sign it elsewhere, so his signature is here." the Hokage unfurled the scroll and found the summoning contract. "Taking that ability from him is as simple as erasing his name."

"Why wouldn't you destroy something that dangerous?" Kiba asked. "Who the hell would even write a Human Summoning Contract? Who _could_?"

"Tobirama Senju was a shrewd man," the Third answered. "He wasn't cruel, and he did no wrong by his people, but he believed the ends justified the means, and he was rather... _creative_ with the means." he coated his hand in fire chakra and burned away the ink of Mizuki's name, leaving behind the unharmed paper. "As you can see, he protected this scroll. If I recall, his reasoning was for future generations to use it when necessary, rather than be forced into the terrible undertaking of actually writing it a second time."

"Mizuki used Shadow Clones," Naruto remembered. "He made somwhere around a hundred at my house, but he had to take a soldier pill afterward."

"A hundred!?" Sarutobi repeated. "That many must have seriously damaged his body, specifically his brain and his chakra network. If he then went so far as to use a soldier pill... surely he knows the long-term damage that'll do to him..."

"He doesn't seem to care," Hinata admitted. "Either he believes he can be healed afterward, or he's willing to shorten his lifespan for power."

"I see." the Hokage frowned. "What else did he use?"

"A Fire Dragon Bullet," Gaara answered. "I take it that's not a kinjutsu, though."

"That was once Mizuki's most powerful jutsu," said the Third. "He frequently mentioned using it in his reports to finish his targets off. He's quite skilled with it, and I imagine he can use less chakra to form it by now."

"I can't remember any other jutsu he used," Naruto admitted, "but he had a Cursed Seal."

"That much I know." the Hokage sighed. "The four of you have fought Mizuki and chased him off, after you'd already been through individual matches against other Genin, and my ANBU tell me they can't find Mizuki. Your mission is to spend the next month in close proximity to each other, and if Mizuki attacks you again, kill him. Don't hesitate, don't think of bringing him in, kill him. This is an S-rank assassination mission and as such, you'll each receive pay of one million two hundred thousand ryou after it's complete. Please understand, I'd send ANBU if I could." he sighed again, and reached for his pipe. "You have your orders."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Team Eight replied, shortly followed by Gaara.

"How often do Genin receive S-rank missions here?" Gaara asked quietly once they'd left the room.

"Somewhere around _never_," Kiba answered immediately. "What about in Suna?"

"Likewise. Only Jounin and ANBU ever receive such assignments there."

"Same here," Kiba stretched. "Hokage-sama's really putting a lot of faith in us."

"I don't see how. Mizuki would attack Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke whether or not we were assigned a mission to assassinate him when that time comes..."

"Sasuke," Naruto realized. "Orochimaru wants his Sharingan along with my Rinnegan. What if Mizuki goes after him instead of us?"

"We should look around for him, maybe have him train with us for the finals," Hinata decided. "Strength in numbers."

X

"Chidori." Kakashi held up his lightning-covered hand for Sasuke to see. "My first original jutsu."

Sasuke inspected the mass of chakra with his Sharingan. "It looks... deadly. I like it."

"You haven't even begun to see what it can do. You might not like it once you've put it through someone's chest." Kakashi let the chirping lightning die down, and made a fist with his exposed hand. "Now, if the exam finals were the worst thing you had to worry about, I'd focus on teaching you total mastery of the Chidori, but we'll both be facing worse things than Genin next month. So for now, just show me a Chidori, then we'll move on."

Sasuke looked around at the barren landscape they stood in, strewn with boulders that looked like more than suitable targets for a lightning jutsu. He picked one, made the necessary hand seals, and called, "Chidori."

His hand lit up with lightning chakra, and he stabbed a boulder with it, melting and tearing a sizeable tunnel into the rock. "How was that?" he asked, panting slightly.

"For your first shot, not bad. We might come back to that later, but for now, we should work on other things. Namely, your strongest elemental affinity, the Fire Release."

"I know plenty of fire jutsu. I want something new."

"What you _want _doesn't matter. What you can use to save your life does." Kakashi glared at the boy. "Countless Uchihas throughout history have become obsessed with revenge, Sasuke. It never ended well for them," he warned.

"Pfft. If you're trying to talk me out of going after Itachi, save your breath. I _will_ gain power, and I _will_ use that power to kill my brother."

"And then what? What'll you do once Itachi is dead?" Sasuke blinked. "I thought so. You don't see what happens after the subject of your hatred is gone. I do. You'll wander for a while with nothing to do. You'll feel empty inside, hollow, and I'll tell you why. It's because you won't get any satisfaction from your revenge, and yet you'll have no goals left to fulfill. In time you'll decide you want revenge on everything, and you'll start with the people you care about the most: Sakura and Lee."

"I'd never hurt them," Sasuke answered angrily. "I'd never-"

"You would." Kakashi lifted his headband and watched Sasuke with both eyes, then said coldly, "Mangekyou Sharingan."

Sasuke froze. "You... how could you possibly have such mastery over the Sharingan to use _that? _You're not even an Uchiha!" he snarled.

"You and I both know that's not how it works." Kakashi deactivated the Mangekyou, and covered his three-tomoe Sharingan again. "To be fair, I haven't yet unlocked any abilities to use with my Mangekyou, but I know how it's unlocked."

"Who..." Sasuke abruptly cut himself off and looked away.

"Who did I kill?" Kakashi closed his remaining eye, but not into one of his famed eye-smiles. "So you do know how it works." Sasuke flinched. "And you're considering killing Sakura or Lee, to gain more power."

"No," Sasuke replied through gritted teeth. "Itachi hasn't pushed me that far. I'll get stronger my own way."

"I'm glad to hear that, Sasuke. I hope you stand by that decision." Kakashi turned to glance at the damage from Sasuke's Chidori. "If you want, the two of us can do some research in the Uchiha compound, to see if there's any other way to awaken the Mangekyou... but you should know that ever since Madara, the first known Mangekyou wielder, no one has awakened it through any means other than the trauma of losing their closest friend. So don't get your hopes up; you'll probably need to go without that power."

"That's fine." Sasuke smirked. "I'll be better off killing Itachi with jutsu he's never seen before."

"Itachi can wait!" Kakashi snapped. "Right now you need to _focus_, Sasuke. Orochimaru is _going _to invade Konoha, and when he does he _will _send shinobi here to capture you! _That _is the more pressing matter!"

"Hn. Fine." Sasuke turned away to admire the damage done by his Chidori. "What's next, Kakashi-sensei?"

"How much chakra do you have left after that Chidori?"

"...Just over half," Sasuke admitted and sighed in frustration. "And I'm not happy about it."

"It's not surprising that the Chidori takes a lot out of you," Kakashi said kindly. "Lightning isn't your affinity, after all, and you can't forget that the Chidori is an A-rank ninjutsu. If you were to use it enough, it might become your secondary affinity, but you'll always find the Fire Release less taxing on your chakra. Let's see how you handle an A-rank fire jutsu." Kakashi made a ten-seal sequence, and called, "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet."

"That looks effective," Sasuke noted, watching the jutsu form with his Sharingan. "A Dragon Bullet... don't they usually take more seals than that?"

"I only know the full seal set for one of them, the Water Dragon Bullet. It takes forty-four hand seals for me to use, since water is one of my weaker affinities. I learned the Fire Dragon Bullet from the Third Hokage, whose skill with it lets him use an incomplete seal set. It's rather taxing for me, but you might be able to use it with better efficiency than the Chidori."

"So why teach me the Chidori first?"

"The Chidori's power is packed into a small area, and it can puncture through a defence that could stop a ranged jutsu like the Fire Dragon Bullet," Kakashi answered. "For instance, if you had been facing Gaara in the finals, you'd need an A-rank jutsu that could deliver all of its power to a single spot on his sand barrier, much like the Drilling Air Bullet Naruto used."

"I wish I could've used my Sharingan to get that one," Sasuke recalled with disappointment in his voice.

"You shouldn't. From what I've seen so far, Lightning Release might turn out to be your second or third affinity, but wind is either your fourth or fifth. Tell me, how'd you feel after that Air Bullet you used against Shino?"

"Not good. It took a lot more chakra for me than it did for the dobe."

"That's what I thought. As an Uchiha, you have the potential to copy jutsu from all five elements and gain all five affinities, but some will be much weaker than others. Wind is a very rare affinity to have outside of Suna and to a lesser extent Kumo, so it's not surprising that your wind affinity is comparatively weak."

"And for the record," Kakashi added with an eye-smile, "the 'dobe' naturally has massive chakra reserves as an Uzumaki, and on top of that he has a certain... condition that may or may not be passively boosting those reserves as well. That's not to say he hasn't worked hard to make proper use of his power, which brings us to my next point. You're not better than anyone else simply because you're an Uchiha. If you want to reach your full potential, you'll have to do what Itachi did: work for it. Your Sharingan will help, but it won't do it all for you."

X

"Wind Scar!" Naruto roared, and whipped his sword through the air.

Training Ground Forty-Two was even more of a mess than usual. The boulders surrounding the four Genin were sliced to pieces, scorched black, drenched with chakra-infused water, and ground into flakes of sand.

"Water Release: Water Wall!" Hinata made a hand seal in front of her mouth and blew out a deep breath of air. As it passed her fingers, the chakra-packed air transformed into water that spread out into a barrier between her and Naruto's attack. The wind blades splashed into the water, but stopped halfway through Hinata's defense. The Hyuuga heiress didn't hesitate to begin her counterattack. "Water Senbon Jutsu!"

Over two hundred needles of shaped water shot through Hinata's Water Wall, aimed directly at Naruto. "Earth Wall!" he raised several dozen boulders into a wall that caught Hinata's attack, then immediately fell apart again.

"You left your flank open!" Kiba roared, and charged at Hinata. The idea for a free-for-all battle between them had been his idea, to better prepere them for an attack from all sides. "Passing Fang!"

"You did the same," Gaara informed him, and the flame-covered Inuzuka drilled headfirst into a wall of sand that grew into a dome to completely surround him.

"Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Naruto and Hinata both called, and each launched a barrage of small fireballs at Gaara, who took cover behind a wall of sand. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Naruto asked. "Three-stage vertical flank," he added quietly, and she nodded. "Shinra Tensei!"

Gaara felt something hit his sand barrier with considerable force, but it held, and he opened a small hole to see through. Hinata stood alone on the other side, forming seals for another silent Water Bullet, only to cut herself off mid-sequence, unseal her spear, and throw it with startling precision through the hole in Gaara's wall. He dodged what would have been a painful headshot, then looked up.

"Gotcha!" Naruto declared, and formed hand seals in midair, high above Gaara's sand wall. "Wind Scar!" Gaara merely swept the rest of his sand upward into a roof attached to the sand wall, stopping the attack easily.

Hinata, meanwhile, had Substituted with her spear behind Gaara, and chose this moment to roundhouse-kick him into his own sand wall from behind. "One down!" she called, and jumped away as Gaara's sand collapsed down on him.

Kiba broke free from the collapsing dome of sand Gaara had kept him in, and shifted into Cerberus Mode with a wordless roar, then sprinted headlong toward Hinata, who Substituted with her spear again, returning to where she'd thrown it. Kiba simply snarled and turned toward her without slowing down.

"Drilling Air Bullet!" Naruto called, and blindsided Kiba with a condensed ball of forceful wind chakra that struck him in the side of his central head. Kiba was lifted off his feet by the attack, and spun around several times as he flew, roaring in shock and pain. When they landed, Kiba and Akamaru immediately split apart into their original forms, and Kiba sighed in relief with a jaw that was once again intact, with his fire aura inactive. "You left your flank open," Naruto echoed with a smirk.

"Bite me, ya psycho. That attack busted Cerberus' jaw in three places. It hurt."

"Last I checked, ass-kickings usually do."

"Why you-" Kiba rose to his feet and reignited his Hellhound Flame Armor, and moved toward Naruto with his fists balled. "Let's see how you like having your face caved in!"

"That won't be necessary." Three thick arms of sand reached out and grabbed all three Genin in an unbreakable grip. Gaara stood, with sand pouring out of his hair and clothes. "I've won."

"Didn't I kick you headfirst into a wall?" Hinata asked honestly, drawing chuckles from Naruto and Kiba.

"I wear a helmet," Gaara answered simply, and a few bits of his sand armor chipped off to demonstrate.

Naruto suppressed his giggling, and said in as serious a voice as he could manage, "I surrender. Gaara's got us beat."

"It's another tactic our enemies might try," the sand wielder pointed out, and released the three. "Pretending to be unconscious or dead from a hit that did minimal damage. When you turn your back to them, they stab it. That's how shinobi are supposed to fight."

Naruto picked up his sword from where he'd dropped it to use the Drilling Air Bullet, and sealed it into his ring. "I guess we should keep that in mind," he shrugged.

Hinata turned to retrieve her spear, then froze. "Neji-nii?" she asked incredulously. All eyes turned to where Neji had been watching the battle with eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"

Neji shook his head clear, and stepped forward with a scroll in hand. "Hiashi-sama has called for the two of you to meet him, immediately. I'm... sorry to interrupt your training," he finished hesitantly, then tossed the scroll to Hinata, who opened it.

"...Riku Kesshou?" Hinata asked incredulously. "Why the Riku Kesshou?"

"What's the Riku Kesshou?" Naruto asked.

"It's one of the more expensive restaurants in Konoha, and the Hyuugas are frequent customers. That's because there's a room there that's soundproofed, sealed against the penetrating vision of the Byakugan, and guarded by ANBU. It's a meeting place for my father to discuss things he doesn't want _anyone _knowing." Hinata read further down the scroll. "Neji-nii, this says he wants you to come with us."

**Please Review!**


	19. Complications, Part 1

**This is the first chapter of a double update. A review on both chapters would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reviews are in the next chapter.**

The room's walls, ceiling and floor were all a smooth, pale grey. Each of the six surfaces was molded from a single piece of concrete, with the sole exception of the door, which was steel.

Said door slammed loudly behind Naruto, Hinata and Neji.

The table Hiashi sat at was polished redwood, with a panel of iron under the surface. It was supported by four wooden legs, and was lit from underneath by a lamp set into the floor, to make detecting bugs that much easier. The Byakugan could see through solid objects, but things shrouded in darkness were still hard for it to see. This was not a five-star restaurant, it was a stronghold disguised as one.

"Come, sit down," Hiashi commanded.

"Yes, Hiashi-sama," Neji replied, and glanced expectantly at Hinata, who like Naruto said nothing. All three children stepped forward and seated themselves around the table in black leather chairs.

"I've already checked the room for bugs myself," Hiashi declared, and added, "Our meal will be brought shortly. Naruto, feel free to check for poison, I won't be offended."

"Thanks," Naruto responded, then glanced around. "So what's with the interrogation room?"

"This room is completely secure. Nothing the four of us discuss here will ever be leaked. I admit, it's not very charming, but it serves its purpose."

"Speaking of which," Neji spoke up, "Why _are_ there four of us? Why am I here?"

"We'll get to that later. First, I need to ask a certain question of you, Naruto Uzumaki." Hiashi triggered his Byakugan and aimed it at Naruto. "The slightest twitch in your movement indicating a lie can kill you, I hope that's clear. What exactly is the nature of your relationship with my daughter?"

"You're kidding," Naruto deadpanned. "You called us here, into this kind of secure room, to ask me whether I'm dating Hina-chan or not?"

"Hina...chan?" Hiashi echoed, noting the blush that immediately spread across his daughter's face. "...To answer your question," the Hyuuga Clan leader leaked a bit of killing intent into his voice, "No. That sort of subject wouldn't require this kind of security, but it's only the first subject we have to discuss. Nevertheless you will answer it."

"Yes, I'm dating Hinata," Naruto replied with a trace of his own killing intent, "Yes, I love her," Hinata nearly fainted at this being said in front of her father and cousin, "And no, I don't tell her so _nearly _often enough."

"...I see." Hiashi turned to Hinata. "And what do you feel about all of this?"

"U-Uncomfortable," Hinata squeaked, then glanced at Naruto when the latter started chuckling. She let herself smirk a little as well.

"...I don't know why I even bothered asking," Hiashi admitted. "You've been stalking the boy for three years now; your feelings for him are quite apparent."

"Eep." Hinata slumped forward, smacking her forehead into the table, which immediately woke her back up. "Wha!?"

"Now then, next question, Neji?"

"Yes, Hiashi-sama?" Neji answered immediately.

"Remove your forehead protector." Neji gritted his teeth, but did as he was told, revealing his Caged Bird Seal. Hiashi pointed to it, and said, "Take a good look at what the Hyuuga Clan stands for. Hinata, Naruto, _this_ is the Hyuuga Clan."

"H-Hiashi-sama," Hinata hesitantly began, "I don't understand where this is going."

Hiashi sighed. "You won't even refer to me as your father." He withdrew a scroll from his kimono, and laid it on the table in front of Neji. "I wish I could've given you that sooner, Neji. Your father was my brother, I loved him, and I have _clearly_ let him down. Over and over again."

Neji read through the scroll's contents silently, while Hinata spoke up, "Y-You never answered my question. What's the point of all this?"

"The Hyuuga Clan is dying," Hiashi answered simply, "And there's nothing I can do about it except this."

Neji set down the scroll, and glared at Hiashi. "What do you mean by that? By _all _of it!?" he turned on his Byakugan, and looked his uncle in the eye. "Is what that scroll said completely true?"

"Every word of it," The clan head replied without hesitation. "Surely by now you've begun to see what I mean."

"What _do _you mean?" Naruto asked. "I'm completely out of the loop here."

"The Main House of the Hyuuga Clan is suffocating itself. Choking on its own arrogance. The Clan Elders have my hands tied, and I have no support from the Branch House, so all I could do was watch, until now. Now, it's _finally _come to my attention that the only Main House Hyuuga left with any humility has grown a spine, thanks to you, Naruto."

"You mean me," Hinata realized. "Now you know I'm stronger than I was before."

"That's right. I'm not sure how long it's been since you found this strength, Hinata," her father smiled at her, "And I can't wrap my head around the fact you've been hiding it, even when sparring with Hanabi and talking with me, but it's clear that you have the potential to lead the Hyuuga Clan when I step down."

Hinata blinked. "I... expected this conversation to go in the absolute opposite direction," she admitted. "You're offering for me to take Hanabi's place as the next clan head?"

Hiashi nodded. "Hanabi has a strong will, but she is misguided. I've allowed her to grow up thinking that Hyuugas are born superior to the unwashed masses outside the clan compound. She truly believes that... and if she takes my place, if _one more _Hyuuga Clan Head thinks the way she does... we'll end up seeing another Uchiha Massacre."

"What do you mean by that!?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Someone's gonna kill the whole Hyuuga Clan?"

"Someone..." Hiashi shook his head. "This is the moment of truth, you three. Any further discussion on the subject will require me to reveal S-rank village secrets, so I need to know if I can count on you. Will you help me save our clan?"

"I don't understand," Hinata admitted, "But I want to save the clan, yes."

"You have my word," Neji added, and pointed to his forehead. "Anything's better than this."

"I'm in too," Naruto agreed.

"Itachi Uchiha was _ordered _to wipe out the Uchiha Clan, to prevent a civil war that would ultimately lead to the destruction of Konoha. The Uchihas believed they were better than the rest of the village, and thought themselves fit to rule Konoha. Fugaku Uchiha intended to take the Hokage's hat after assassinating his predecessor."

"Then what the hell's Itachi doing in Akatsuki?" Naruto immediately asked.

"Working as a mole for Jiraiya's spy network," Hiashi answered simply. "After he carried out his mission, he knew he'd have to leave the village permanently. I personally discussed it with him, when the mission was being planned. He decided to further help Konoha, even as a missing-nin."

"And you think the Hyuuga Clan is going to plan a coup, just the same way," Hinata realized. "You want me to take your place, so I can stop that from happening. I'll work with Neji to abolish the Caged Bird Seal, and the Branch House will cooperate with us because we haven't been oppressing them for years already. And the elders, you said they had your hands tied... they've been manipulating you?"

"They've completely prevented me from making a move to free the Branch House," Hiashi admitted. "They'll do the same to you unless you make the changes as soon as you take the position. In order to take power from the elders, you'll have to free the Branch House so the elders will be too afraid to harm you, for fear of an uprising."

"So what do I do?" Naruto asked.

"That's simple. Become Hokage and marry into the Hyuuga Clan."

"Eep." Thunk. "Wha!?"

Naruto turned bright red, glanced at a dazed Hinata, then turned back to Hiashi and asked, "Come again?"

"The Hokage is as powerless as I am when it comes to stopping the elders, because he can't interfere with 'private clan matters.' But if the elders get to Hinata and do to her what they did to me, only a Hyuuga acting as Hokage could save her. So you'll have to become Hokage and marry Hinata before she becomes clan head. That's not a problem, is it?" he forced out a significant amount of killing intent.

"The only problem is that you keep making Hina-chan faint," Naruto shot back. "She's gonna give herself a concussion thanks to you!"

"My apologies, but this issue must be addressed."

"Hiashi-sama," Neji began, "you mentioned the elders did something to you, to prevent you from moving against them. What did you mean?"

Hiashi pulled down the collar of his kimono, baring his right shoulder, and the Caged Bird Seal on it. Neji stared at it in disbelief. "You see, I know how you've suffered, Neji. At least partly."

"H-How long have you had it?"

"Three years ago, I made a move to have the Caged Bird Seal replaced with a new seal that couldn't torture the bearer. This was my punishment. The entire event was kept secret from even the rest of the Main House, let alone the Branch. Up until that moment, I foolishly believed the clan leader actually led the clan."

"Ah, I get it," Naruto announced. "The elders aren't supposed to be allowed to do that, but once they'd already done it there was no one who could stop them. But if I was Hokage, and... married to Hinata," he added with a blush, "I could have them arrested for that. And they couldn't put the seal on me 'cause that'd be treason! The whole village would come down on them!"

"Exactly. So, will you do it? Will you become Hokage, marry my daughter, and overthrow the elders?"

"I was kinda hoping to pop the question myself, ya know!" Naruto glared at Hiashi and pointed at him angrily. "You didn't have to do it for me!"

"Ah, but I did," Hiashi smirked. "I had to go through the entire conversation at once, which entailed arranging a marriage between you and my daughter, and specifying that it must be done _after _you become Hokage. Otherwise the elders will brand _you _with the seal to keep Hinata in line, and you won't be able to become Hokage if the Hyuuga Clan has total control over you."

"I came here thinking you might even try to kill Naruto-kun for being in a relationship with me," Hinata spoke up. Hiashi blinked at how frighteningly calm she suddenly was. "However, I take it this means we have your blessing?"

He nodded. "I can't help but notice you're not blushing or stuttering at this point."

"I find that once I've fainted twice in the same conversation, nothing else can shake me."

"All I have left to bring up is the dowry," Hiashi replied.

_Eh... Kurama, what's a dowry?_

_You're quite lucky I know this one, idiot. A dowry is money that changes hands when the bride marries the groom. The concept is a bit dated, but it seems this is yet another tradition the Hyuuga Clan refuses to budge on. _

Naruto shrugged and stood up, stepping back away from the table. "Going somewhere?" Hiashi asked, confused, then his eyes widened as Naruto began making hand seals.

"Ninja Art: Seal Summoning Jutsu." Hiashi blinked, but continued to silently watch Naruto's perplexing actions once it was clear the boy wasn't aiming a ninjutsu at him. Naruto lifted the thin stone lid of his portable vault, and pointed to the considerable mountain of gold within. "I'm a little disappointed that you expect me to put a price on Hinata," he declared angrily, "but take as much as you want."

_Naruto, you impatient buffoon, I wasn't done! It's the bride's family that gives a dowry to the groom's family! You've got it backwards!_

"Oh."

Hiashi couldn't help it; he burst out laughing for the first time in what felt like years. "F-Forget I s-said anything!" the clan leader choked out between laughs. _I'd expected the boy to come up with an interesting answer to that, but this, this is too much! _He kept giggling like a child, ever more grateful that the walls of the room were soundproof. "H-Hinata," he began after he'd managed to calm himself down, "You have my blessing," he finished, smirking.

X

_The moon's getting full, _Gaara noted. _Shukaku is going to fly into a rage, any day now, and I'll have to resist his full mental force for the first time. I wonder how that'll play out. _

_You're an idiot if you think you can stop me under a full moon, _Shukaku snarled. _I'll make you pay for defying me for this long!_

"We'll see." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment. "It's a pleasant night, isn't it?"

The Ichibi Jinchuuriki was seated atop the wall surrounding Konoha, just to the left of the open gate. the nearly full moon and the stars around it were shining down in full force, unhindered by even a trace of cloud cover.

"You talking to us?" Gaara's eyes opened, and glanced down at two figures in black, hooded cloaks. The one who had spoken was an adult man whose entire face was shaded by his hood. The other looked to be a young girl from what Gaara could see of her. They were about to pass through the gates of Konoha silently, and they were apparently unarmed.

"...No. I was talking to myself," Gaara replied. "What brings you to Konoha?"

"Tonight, we're missing-nin," the girl answered. "Tomorrow morning, we hope to be Konoha-nin."

"I see. Refugees." Gaara closed his eyes again. "Why come here in particular?"

"From what we've seen of Konoha," the girl admitted, "It looks to be the most welcoming and promising environment." she glanced up at the sky. "And you're right, it is a pleasant night."

"Good luck," Gaara replied, and watched them pass him and enter the village. He stretched out on the rooftop and blinked up at the stars for several minutes. _Maybe I should start reading novels to pass the night, _he decided. _I'm getting tired of just staring up at the stars. _He blinked at the sight of a shooting star briefly lighting up the night sky. _As per usual, _he declared silently, _I wish I had something to end my boredom tonight._

_That's the same thing you always say! Keep wishing for some damn company, but you're stuck with me, it never-_

"Hey Gaara."

_-works?_

Gaara tilted his head back to see Tenten standing behind him. "...Tenten. What brings you out here, this late at night?"

"Ah, c'mon, it's not _that _late," she protested with a smirk. "I went to your brother and sister looking for you; I was gonna ask you to train with me tomorrow morning, but they said you come out here every night. Why?"

"I don't sleep," he admitted. "Ever." he pointed to the black rings around his eyes. "That's how the stigma of the One-Tail develops: through chronic insomnia. And a ceiling is an incredibly boring thing to stare at for twelve hours, every night, so I come out here."

"And stare at the stars instead?" Tenten shrugged. "Why don't you just grab a book or something?"

"I thought of that a few moments ago."

"You're not kidding."Tenten chuckled and sat down next to him. "Do me a favor and avoid anything with 'Icha Icha' written on the cover."

"I'll keep that in mind," Gaara replied, not bothering to wonder why. "You mentioned wanting to train with me tomorrow?"

"Yeah." she paused to gather her thoughts. "When I came looking for you, Kankurou mentioned that your sand's the perfect defense against blades, so I figured if I could find a way around it, there'd be pretty much no ninjutsu that could defend against my weapons."

Gaara blinked. "But... you said you were _already_ looking to train with me, and then Kankurou and Temari told you I'd be here. Now you say Kankurou gave you the idea _after_ you started looking for me?"

Tenten looked up at the sky, hiding her reddening face from him. "Okay fine, I just wanted to hang out."

"And you felt you needed a reason?" he asked, confused. "It's not like I have anything better to do than to 'hang out' with you. What reason could I possibly have to turn down your company?"

Before Tenten could answer, she heard a familiar metallic whistling sound coming from behind her back. Dosu jumped up from the road to the roof, and bared his Melody Arm. "Hm, fortune shines on me tonight. Both of my intended victims here together. I can kill you both with one swing of my arm."

"Such a busy night... I see Konoha was rather lenient with your punishment," Gaara remarked. "Leave now, or I will be... less so."

"Thanks to Zaku, I'm on bail," Dosu answered. "Apparently he fears for his safety in the presence of a certain Uchiha, and he spent most of his savings to free me and have me as a bodyguard. Money well spent, in my opinion. Once I've killed you two, I'll have nothing better to do than watch his back. And if Sasuke actually comes after him, I'll thoroughly enjoy turning his insides to a pulp with my Melody Arm."

_Just kill him. _

_For once, we're in agreement. _Gaara didn't bother to move anything other than his sand, which he wrapped around the entirety of Dosu's body. "Tenten, I don't suppose you have any objections to me killing him, do you?"

Tenten glanced down at Dosu with pity, then answered, "No. He's an enemy of our villages and of us personally. Leaving him alive is downright stupid."

"Agreed. Sand Coffin." Dosu never even had time to scream; the sand condensed into a smaller cloud, leaving no room for his body, in an instant.

"Ah, genjutsu. I see why Kin loves it so much." Gaara glanced up at the second image of Dosu to his right, with mild irritation.

"Genjutsu," Gaara repeated, then glanced at Tenten. "Hit me. It doesn't matter where, so long as it's hard enough to cause pain." Tenten shrugged, and brought her fist down hard on his chest. "Thank you." the sand wielder sat up, and turned to glare at Dosu, who stood on the roof twenty feet to his left. "Now please leave. My mind isn't particularly stable right now."

Dosu chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. You're going to stay here and die. I was talking to Tenten." Gaara stood and folded his arms over his chest, as the cork sealing his gourd of sand popped out.

"Why should I leave?" Tenten asked. "I can help!"

"I agree, but I need you to put some distance between us. Go home, Tenten, I'll see you tomorrow morning. For now... let me prolong my existence by killing Dosu." he grinned evilly.

"You're gonna let that demon out, aren't you?" Tenten laid a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what it's telling you, but you don't have to listen!"

Gaara's thoughts ground to an immediate halt. _I'm warning you brat, don't defy me again! If you don't let me have this Oto punk, I'll rip your mind to shreds come the next full moon. And that's... what? Two days away?_

"You're right." Gaara blinked. "If I let Shukaku have his way tonight, I'll make a terrible mess of your village, not to mention I'll be turning my back on the progress I've made against him so far."

_You're an arrogant little fleshbag, aren't you? I swear I'm gonna rip my way out of this meat cage, and then I'll step on you, and squish you into a sandy paste, you got that?_

Gaara turned his attention back to Dosu, and reached for him with killing intent and all of his sand. "I'll make it fast," he declared.

"No attack is faster than sound," Dosu shot back, and swung his arm in a wide arc, firing a blast of controlled sound waves that attacked Gaara's and Tenten's inner ears. He leapt away from the sand that kept reaching for him, and readied his arm for another attack.

"What is that?" Gaara murmured. "It's warm and wet like water. I can't see it from here," he rambled quietly, "Tell me, what is it?"

Tenten shook her head as clear as she could, and tried to stand upright only to double over again, clutching her ears. Something in Gaara's tone absolutely terrified her, but she managed to look up at him, and noticed he was still standing straight up, but his ears were bleeding badly. _With that much blood, I can safely guess his balance is completely destroyed, so how is he still upright? Is it just because he's not moving out of a stable position? _"G-Gaara," she choked out through the pain, "You have to kill him."

"Yes, Mother."

_Mother!?_

"Sand Coffin." The relapsing psychopath's sand wrapped itself around Dosu faster than his eye could see, and crushed him into paste before he had time for a Substitution. Gaara turned to her with wide, bloodshot eyes and a pained expression, with thin dark cracks spreading over his face. "Tenten... what is it that's dripping down from my ears?" he hesitated for a moment. "Is it... my blood?"

She could just barely make out what he was saying enough to reply, "D-Don't worry, Gaara. We can get to a hospital, or find a medic-nin..." she stood up straight, and tried to step forward, only to swing wildly off-balance and crash to the ground. Her head hit the rooftop, knocking her out cold, shortly followed by the Jinchuuriki at her side when he tried to move as well.

A black-cloaked blur shot out of the darkness and crouched between them, hands alight with the green chakra of medical ninjutsu. The girl's older companion emerged from the shadows at a much more leisurely pace, and called up to the roof, "What are you doing?"

"Healing them," she answered simply. "We have no reason not to."

"How's this for a reason not to? The longer we're here without announcing our presence, the more likely the Konoha-nin are to get the wrong idea. They'll think we're infiltrating them, especially with these cloaks."

"Black was your choice, not mine. I suggested white or pale blue."

"Don't bother trying to change the subject. You know you're too soft for your own good." the man turned away, and grumbled, "The problem is, it's starting to wear off on me."

X

_"I just don't get it," Naruto admitted. "Why would the Fourth... why would otousan seal you in here so perfectly?"_

_"What do you mean?" Kurama asked. "Isn't that obvious? He wanted me to die in here when you did."_

_"No, that doesn't add up. He didn't have to seal your chakra so perfectly for that. Was he afraid you'd manipulate me?"_

_"No," Kurama said thoughtfully. "I can still talk to you. If he wanted to seal off my voice, he could have."_

_"Then why?" Naruto ran his hands through his hair and groaned. "What's the point? If we could combine our powers, we'd be ten times as much of a threat to Akatsuki! And otousan would know that! He must've had a reason to keep you from giving me your chakra-"_

_"Quiet." Kurama looked up into the simulated night sky of Naruto's mindscape. "Do you feel that?"_

_"What is it?"_

_"Killing intent." the Nine-Tails scowled. "From Shukaku."_

_"What!?" Naruto sprang to his feet. "Gaara let him out!?"_

_"No. It's still being filtered, I can sense that much. Gaara's containing my brother's power, but giving in to his thoughts instead... hm?" he blinked. "It's gone. Now I can only sense the boy. He's pouring out his own killing intent."_

_"He's in a fight?"_

_"It looks that way. I admit, he's got some decent killing intent for a mortal. It doesn't fall that far short of Shukaku's, which pretty much means... whoever he's fighting is a dead man walking." one of the strongest beings ever to walk the earth, a demonic walking ocean of chakra, winced. Naruto felt exactly what Kurama had; Gaara's killing intent had cut off with no warning whatsoever, which meant either he was dead, or more likely, his opponent was. "That was fast," the Nine-Tails remarked. "His opponent must have been a pushover, and an annoying one at that, for so much killing intent to be directed at him."_

_"Can you sense Gaara? Is he all right?"_

_"I've got nothing, kid." Kurama laid down on the floor of his cage, and snorted in annoyance. "If this damn cage was open, I'd be able to access the Tailed Beast Dimension and even take you there. We could talk directly to Shukaku, and likely Gaara as well."_

_"Tailed Beast Dimension?" Naruto repeated. "You mean there's a dimension where all of the Tailed Beasts can meet up and talk? About stuff like AKATSUKI PLANNING TO KILL US ALL!? And the Fourth SEALED THAT OFF TOO!?" Naruto punched the ground, hard. "What the HELL was he THINKING!?"_

_"Easy, brat, take it easy. Come take a look at this." Kurama reached up from where he was laying, and flicked a spot on his cage. "Come tear this paper off, I think you'll find this interesting."_

_Naruto nodded, stood, and levitated himself up to where a piece of paper was stuck to the cage where the two apparent doors met. It bore the kanji for 'seal' in bold script. Naruto tore it off, hoping against hope that the doors would spring gently open, but underneath was an intricately designed swirling lock with the mechanism exposed. "A lock?" Naruto frowned. "I already knew about this. How does seeing the actual lock help us?"_

_"Think about it, halfwit. There's an actual physical lock visible on the seal in your mindscape. A lock you can see and touch. Every lock has a key."_

_Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "I get it! Otousan wants us to unlock this gate at some point! There must be instructions for opening the lock somewhere. Maybe he trusted it to one of his friends... but why even make us wait?" Naruto sighed, and weakly punched the lock, to no effect. _

_"Oh, now it's pretty obvious. My chakra's corrosive if I want it to be. Your dad must've thought it was best if we learn to cooperate perfectly before you get access to my chakra."_

_"Corrosive?" Naruto repeated. "What do you mean?"_

_"I'm a demon, kid. My chakra's different from yours. Hotter, heavier, darker... what I'm getting at is if you, say, demanded use of my chakra, I'd be hostile enough to you that my chakra would burn your coils like acid. That'd weaken you in battle, and possibly shorten your lifespan, and that's just if you're using my chakra the same way you use your own. If you put on a tailed cloak..."_

_"Tailed cloak?"_

_"External manifestation of demonic chakra in the rough likeness of its source demon," Kurama lectured. "There's two different kinds. Version One manifests a transparent layer of chakra around a Jinchuuriki, with a number of tails indicating how actively the Jinchuuriki draws on the demon's power. In our case, between one and nine. But that chakra is like boiling water, both in appearance and effect. If I'm not all buddy-buddy with you, it'll burn your skin as well as your chakra coils. It'll also impede your judgement, and shorten your lifespan outright."_

_"So, what's Version Two?"_

_"Version Two, if I'm not cooperating, will burn away your skin entirely." Naruto winced. "Yep. Your blood will leak out of your whole body into the cloak, staining it red. Well, to be fair a Version Two cloak is usually dark red anyway, due to the density of the chakra. It can act like a sort of armor for the wearer, stopping blows that would blow an unprotected body to bits. If you go deep enough into a Version Two state, say six of my tails, you'll start manifesting an additional layer of protection through a skeleton over the chakra cloak."_

_"So, if we get this seal open, will I be able to use those cloaks without hurting myself?"_

_"It'd take some time for your chakra to sort of melt together with mine. How should I put this... You've got a blue piece and red piece of clay or soft candy, and you squish them and knead them together for a while. At first, you can still pop them apart into red and blue, but if you keep at it, the colors mix in the middle, into purple. There's still a red part and a blue part, but the two flow together rather than abruptly change. If we hit that stage, you'd be able to safely use my chakra to an extent, but if you use too many tails in either cloak, it'll start to become unstable and show the same drawbacks I told you about."_

_"So when we open the cage, we'll have to wait a while before I can use your chakra."_

_"That's right. And after that, if we keep melting our chakra together, it'll all be purple. That's years down the road, but when that time comes, you'll have almost as much chakra as I do, and it'll show demonic traits all by itself. Well, I'll still have mostly red chakra, since I have so much more than you, but yours will all be purple."_

_"Demonic traits?"_

_Kurama nodded. "Nothing to worry about. It won't affect you or anyone else negatively, but for instance, you could pour chakra into someone to give them a Version One or even a Version Two cloak, with no tails since you're not a Tailed Beast. It'll look more like you than me."_

_"How could a chakra cloak like that look like me?" Naruto asked, puzzled._

_"Ridiculously bright orange?" Kurama suggested sarcastically. "If that isn't obnoxious enough, you might add golden flames over your whole body."_

_"Bright orange isn't ridiculous! I started out wearing it for stealth training and it grew on me, okay!?" Naruto shook his fist angrily at the demon._

_"Whatever helps you sleep at night, brat. You really should know by now that you look completely insane in it." Kurama chuckled. _

_"Hey, you're one to talk!" Naruto pointed out. "Your fur is bright orange too."_

_"That's not by choice!" Kurama countered angrily. "And I'm a fox! I'm supposed to be orange! Furthermore, who would dare mock the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, an ancient demon the size of a small city who can level mountains with a flick of a single tail? On me, orange looks damned intimidating! My victims see me coming from countries away, and they can only sit there and await their doom. They know by know that running only means they die tired."_

_"Whatever helps ya sleep at night," Naruto echoed with a smirk._

_"Why you! You might want to think twice about letting me out of this box, kid! The first thing I do when I get out is look for a snack!"_

_"...Kurama." Naruto floated back down to the ground, and idly glanced at the paper that had covered the seal. "Sorry to go all serious on you, but... What are you really gonna do when I let you out? If we ever find a way, ya know?"_

_"Step one is helping you beat the Akatsuki into a huge red stain on the ground. Then I want to truly be free again. Maybe I'll strike an agreement with Konoha that I make a home out of some wilderness in the Land of Fire, in a spot where no one cares to go. If that fails, well..." the fox looked around and considered its surroundings. "It is rather cozy in here. As long as it's a den and not a cage, I'm satisfied with staying right here in this seal, at least until you die." _

_Kurama chuckled at Naruto's relieved grin. "Eh, don't get too touchy-feely about it. Where else am I ever gonna find a cave for me with a cozy bed of the same size as me, and a convenient giant snack dispenser that never even needs a refill?" the demon glanced up at the sky again. "Get some real sleep, kid. I'm all but certain that Gaara's alive, but whatever just happened to him might happen to you next. Be ready for it."_

_Naruto nodded. "Thanks, Kurama." he looked down and smiled slightly. "I've got a lot of things I need to be ready for, especially after today."_

_"I told you not to get touchy-feely, weren't you listening?" Kurama scowled as Naruto began fading out of his mindscape. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Naruto closed his eyes and faded completely away into silent sleep. "Che. Brat's too damn sappy about everything."_

X

He woke late the following morning with a groan as the sound of someone knocking on his door rang out through the nearly-empty Uzumaki Clan manor. "Ugh... coming... I'll be right there!" he called, and stood to shake himself awake, then made his way to the door and pulled it open with a yawn. "Yo, Hina-chan!"

"Hi, Naru-kun," she greeted. "Can I come in?" Naruto nodded and stepped aside so Hinata could enter.

"Have you seen Gaara yet this morning?" Naruto asked. "Me and Kurama felt his killing intent last night when we were asleep."

"He and Tenten were attacked last night by Dosu Kinuta. Dosu's dead, but they were found unconscious at the gates with blood coming out of their ears." Naruto scowled, recalling the weapon Dosu had wielded. "The weird thing is, their ears were completely intact when the ANBU picked them up. Someone must have healed them and left them there."

"That _is _weird," Naruto agreed, "But I'll take weirdness over the Akatsuki coming after the Tailed Beasts any day. So how's Gaara doing now?"

"He's fine, so is Tenten," she replied. "They should be released from the hospital any minute now, if they haven't left already. I wonder who healed them, though..." she trailed off, and blushed slightly. "So, do you want to talk about yesterday?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered the previous day's events and summarized it all in a single sentence. "We're engaged." he blinked. "Actually, not yet we're not."

"Eh?" Hinata's eyes widened as Naruto got down on one knee. "N-Naruto-kun!?"

_I should've got a ring last night, or maybe I could've made one, _Naruto silently recalled. "The choice still has to be ours, ya know? Hinata... will you marry me?"

The dark edges of Hinata's vision with her inactive Byakugan began to creep in toward the center. She saw stars blurring over Naruto's smiling face, and began to feel lightheaded. _No... not now... I can't faint now! I won't faint now! _"Y-yes..." she squeaked, and closed her eyes for a moment. _I won't faint. Not here, not now, and never again. _"Yes, Naruto-kun, I will!"

She opened her eyes, and smiled back at him. _I can see him clearly. None of those stupid stars are in the way. _She helped Naruto to his feet, and they kissed. _I'll make sure it stays that way. I'll never faint again... I'm stronger than that now. _"Naruto-kun..." _I'm strong enough to say these words, without fainting this time... _"I love you."

"I love you too, Hinata-chan."

_Nothing. I don't feel the tiniest bit lightheaded. _She grinned, then kissed him again. _I've really done it! It's like a dream, but I never have to worry about waking up... I never have to worry about this feeling going away. _

_Even when the moment ends, this happiness can't be taken from me._

X

Gaara's eyes snapped open, and he stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. "...Where am I?"

"Hospital," Tenten replied quietly from the bed next to him, and he glanced over to her. "How much do you remember?"

"I remember Dosu attacking us. I killed him, then you collapsed, and I tried to do something." Gaara scowled. "I hadn't thought of anything I could do, I just moved, and got nowhere. I fell, hit my head, and passed out... Odd." he blinked and concentrated, but no fragments of his sand armor broke off. "My armor shattered apart. That's never happened before."

"Armor?" she asked curiously.

"It's a layer of my sand infused with chakra that I wear over my skin at all times, to protect me from any attack that might get through the Shield of Sand..." Gaara froze, and glanced around. He sat bolt upright and asked slowly, "Where... is... my sand?"

Tenten's eyes widened, and she sat up too. "Oh, crap. You used it to kill Dosu, and I don't think you ever put it back into your gourd! You weren't even wearing your gourd!"

"That sand was a part of me," Gaara replied, and climbed out of the hospital bed. "I gathered the strongest minerals I could find in the desert, and poured my chakra into it, over a period of years... It was a perfect weapon." he glared at the door. "If I can't recover it, I'll have no way to replace it until I return home. I'll be defenseless."

"Alright, I'll go with you," Tenten decided, and sat up to stretch. "I know that sand means a lot to you, but if we can't find it, I might be able to help you make a replacement."

"...Make a replacement?" he echoed.

"I'm not saying we won't try really hard to find your own sand," Tenten added hastily, "But I know this trick I can do with a forge. You said your sand is made of 'the strongest minerals,' right? What about diamond?"

"There are a few traces of diamond in it, yes. Why?"

"Diamonds are compressed carbon crystals," Tenten lectured. "The same substance that's in coal. I know how to heat and compress the coal fuelling a forge. It takes a Fire Release user to superheat the flames to that point, but it'll produce high-density, crystallized carbon fragments. Diamonds. The only reason people don't get rich off the trick is the diamonds don't look like gems. They're rough little black lumps, but they're the same in composition. With tools made with existing diamonds, or the proper Earth Release ninjutsu, I can grind those lumps into a powder for you! Diamond sand!" she finished excitedly. "Do you think you could manipulate pure diamond dust?"

Gaara chose this moment to try out his newly mastered smile. "I'm certain I could. That would be the perfect weapon for me... I'm honored that you would go to that much trouble."

"Gaara, let me tell you something important about me," Tenten replied with a grin. "No one ever thinks to wonder why _every single weapon _in my scroll collection is different. I _love_ making new weapons, exotic ones no one's ever seen before. That diamond sand would be _easily _the coolest weapon I've ever made. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it," she admitted.

"The gourd was made of sand as well," Gaara said thoughtfully. "I suppose I'd need a new container for a seperate substance."

Tenten grinned even broader. "Here's what I think: A katana. Store your sand in a fuinjutsu on the guard. Not the blade, since you might need to release it without drawing your sword, and not the hilt, since your hand could be in the way of the seal if you're wielding it, but the guard... you could release your sand whether you're holding the sword or not, and either way, your opponent will think you specialize in kenjutsu, and plan a strategy against that, only to find out you're a ranged fighter!"

"And the blade itself would help counterract my lack of skill in taijutsu," Gaara added. "I'd never have thought of anything like this... it's brilliant. Thank you, Tenten."

"Eh..." she recalled the events of the previous night. "Gaara, sorry to change the subject, but what was the deal with you last night? You called me 'Mother.'"

"...I said that?" Gaara murmured. "Tenten, I wasn't referring to you. The demon inside me had me fooled for years into thinking it was my mother. She died giving birth to me. Last night, Shukaku manipulated me again, but I'm not sure how he could have made me relapse like that."

_It's simple, brat. My mind is stronger than yours, since we're so close to the full moon. And tomorrow night, I'm gonna break free of this seal once and for all... killing you in the process. I hope it's messy! _The demon started cackling and rambling incoherently.

Tenten noticed the worried expression on Gaara's face, and asked, "What's wrong? Is it talking to you?"

"Shukaku intends to escape my seal tomorrow night, during the full moon. If he succeeds..." Gaara shook his head. _I've finally begun to make bonds, I've finally found people to care about... I won't let it all be destroyed. _"I'll have to get away from any sources of sand. If I can do that, he won't be able to build a body of sand... he'll be powerless. Ideally, it could leave him weak enough that he won't be able to break out of the seal..."

"What happens if he does?"

"I don't know," Gaara answered truthfully. "If a Jinchuuriki's tenant is extracted forcefully, they die. If the host willingly frees the beast by opening the seal, they live. But if Shukaku breaks free himself... I just don't know."

Tenten paled. "Gaara, we can't take that risk! Look, there are some shinobi here with incredible fuinjutsu skill. We have to find one, today. Maybe Jiraiya? He could probably put a way stronger seal on you. But we've gotta do _something!_"

"Tenten, you use fuinjutsu yourself... what do you know about the Eight Trigrams Seal?"

"Only that it's way, _way _above my level," she admitted. "Why? Is that the seal holding Shukaku?"

"No. The seal I bear is called the Black Lions Seal. It's a numbered seal, with two points."

"Only two..." Tenten breathed. "I'm not a sealing expert, but even I know that a two-point seal holding a Tailed Beast is bad. If either one of those two points fails, the other takes the entire load of the contents. Half the total chakra of a demon of that caliber, suddenly slamming into a half-broken seal from within... that's a scary thought. We gotta get you to a fuinjutsu master, right now. Come on!"

She made for the door, and jumped when it suddenly swung inward, revealing Naruto and Hinata. "Oh thank Kami! Take us to Jiraiya!"

"Jiraiya?" Naruto repeated, then his eyes widened and locked on Gaara. "His seal," the bearer of the Nine-Tails growled. "It's failing, right?"

"We have until tomorrow night," Gaara said simply, "at the latest."

Hinata nodded. "Follow us."

**Please Review!**


	20. Complications, Part 2

**This is the second chapter of a double update. A review on both chapters would be very much appreciated.**

_Thanks to Ayrmed, *Juan,* MrBojangles3154, Musical cake, griffin blackwood, Agrond, Shizuka Taiyou, Rose Tiger, Dragon Man 180, NaruHinafanficfan1, *That Guy,* *yo,* and Kasumi lynne for reviewing._

_Ayrmed: Indeed._

_*Juan:* Thanks._

_MrBojangles3154: Hiashi sent for Hinata, Naruto AND Neji to meet him. And no, that's not why I'm worried about flames._

_Musical cake: It did seem that way, didn't it?_

_griffin blackwood: Thanks._

_Agrond: I'm trying to keep the good guys and bad guys comparable in power level, so neither side curbstomps the other. I don't think I could make an Invincible!Naruto story interesting and engaging, and I don't want to anyway. _

_Shizuka Taiyou: Oh yes, something definitely went down in that room._

_Rose Tiger: Okay._

_Dragon Man 180: The Substitution Naruto and Hinata use isn't difficult because of chakra control, it just takes the enchanced vision of a doujutsu to track a flying kunai well enough to lock on with the jutsu and switch with it. That said, Sasuke won't be stealing any more jutsu nor will he spam the Substitution the way Naruto and Hinata can. _

_NaruHinafanficfan1: Hn._

_*That Guy:* Sasuke vs. Kiba... I haven't yet decided how that match will go. Initially I was going to have Oto invade partway through that one, but I've changed my mind about the timing of the invasion, so all I can say is that match will have a winner._

_*yo:* Thanks for reading. I've revised chapter 1's Author's Note to correct that problem._

_Kasumi lynne: Thanks._

X

"I can do it."

All four Genin breathed out a sigh of relief, including a subtle one from Gaara. They were standing in front of a women's bathhouse, but at least Jiraiya had managed to recognize the gravity of the situation, and stopped 'researching' for the time being. "What seal are you going to use?" Gaara asked hopefully.

"The Eight Trigrams," Jiraiya said solemnly. "It's the strongest seal known to Konoha, but just as importantly, it's an even-numbered seal like your own Black Lions Seal. If I tried something like the Five Elements Seal, the even-numbered Black Lions would interfere with the odd-numbered Five Elements, which would wreck your chakra control immediately, and in the long term, make you sick and potentially kill you."

"I understand," Gaara replied with a nod. "So what happens to the seal I'm already wearing?"

"The Black Lions Seal is..." Jiraiya laid a hand on Gaara's abdomen to double-check, "still functional," he confirmed. "It's really sloppy work, though, and it shows. The seal point on the left is close to failure."

"How bad is it?"

"Not that bad," Jiraiya said hopefully. "See, I'm going to lay the Eight Trigrams over the Black Lions. The two won't interfere with each other, but I intend to redirect Shukaku's chakra flow to the eight points in the new seal, leaving the two in the Black Lions Seal completely freed up. It's like I'm redirecting the flow of a river from one dam to another, leaving the first one to hold back nothing but the dry riverbed. Then I'll remove the Black Lions Seal altogether, since it won't be doing anything anymore. Theoretically, it'd give you more proper access to Shukaku's chakra, without it damaging your mind. You'll be able to sleep."

"Thank you," Gaara breathed. "That's what I've always wanted."

Jiraiya smiled sadly, and gestured to the rings around Gaara's eyes. "It can't have been easy for you, but it's over, kid. Come with me; it's time to save your life. When we get to where I'm staying, I'm gonna sedate you so Shukaku can't interfere with your mind while I work. It'll take several hours; fuinjutsu is an intricate subject."

The sage led them to an apartment building, which Naruto noted was similar to the one he'd previously lived in. Countless loosely-bound stacks of pages were scattered over the entirely of Jiraiya's apartment. "Icha Icha Tactics," the Toad Sage declared proudly with a wave of his arm across the room. "It's a work in progress, but it's coming along nicely."

"Oh, that's right," Tenten growled, and the sage blanched. "You're the writer of those damned peverted books." she glared at him, and continued as he stepped back, "Since you're gonna be saving Gaara's life over the next few hours, I'm not gonna beat the crap out of you like just about every girl on the planet wants to, but let's make something incredibly clear..." she grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him down to her height, then whispered in his ear.

"I'm such a huge fan, your work is impeccable!" She hissed, and Jiraiya's eyes widened. "I'm sure this third book is gonna be even better than the last two."

"Alright, fine, I promise," Jiraiya replied shakily as she released him. She knew he was only feigning terror, but that was exactly what she'd been hoping for. "Just don't ever go through with that plan."

"Like I said," she answered with false menace, "You've gotta replace Gaara's seal, so I can't do anything to you. But if I ever catch you spying on _me_," she added, and made it clear she was serious this time, "all bets are off. I'll forge the biggest zanbatou _ever_, just to shove it up your ass."

"R-Right." the sage reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a tag with a fuinjutsu on it. "This isn't an exploding tag," he clarified. "It's called a Suppression Seal. Gaara, lay down so I can use it on you." The Jinchuuriki nodded, and stretched out on the cold wooden floor. Jiraiya pressed the tag into Gaara's forehead, knocking him out almost immediately. "Summoning Jutsu," Jiraiya called, and slapped his hand down onto the floor.

A cloud of white smoke marked the arrival of a soft white bed, just barely large enough for Gaara. Eight candles appeared around the bed in an octagonal formation, already lit and flickering. Jiraiya hefted the young ninja and laid him on the altar. "Minato would've been able to lay this seal on someone in a single moment, and he did with you, Naruto, but it'll take me a few minutes..." Jiraiya formed a long hand seal sequence, and declared, "Eight Trigrams Seal." He resumed making hand seals, slowly to avoid mistakes.

"Take damn good care of him," Tenten ordered, then turned to leave. "I'm gonna put together his get-well present."

Jiraiya finished his second chain of hand seals, pulled up Gaara's shirt, and began tracing his right index finger over the skin around the Black Lions Seal.

X

_"Don't think this changes anything." _

_Gaara opened his eyes wide, and looked around. He was laying down on a bed of cracked, pale brown sandstone and grey-white sand that stretched to the horizon in all directions. The moon overhead was full or nearly so, and was surrounded by an exact replica of the star patterns Gaara had memorized over the years. When the Jinchuuriki sat up, he saw the fully formed One-Tail glaring at him from within a black iron cage that was badly rusted in places. _

_Around it, a new golden cage was growing up out of the desert, bar by bar. "The Eight Trigrams Seal," Gaara guessed correctly._

_"I'm still gonna tear out of this... these damn cages," Shukaku declared. "And when I do, the first thing I'm gonna do is step on you!" the monster laughed with giddy anticipation. "All you did today was buy yourself some time."_

_Gaara folded his arms, and glanced down at the sand around him and Shukaku. Almost immediately, it responded to his mental command, and swirled up around him. "Can you do this?" Gaara asked. _

_"Control that sand? No. Fuck, I want to though. I could just build a new body out there, and let this one fall apart."_

_"I see." Gaara gathered more sand into an elongated replica of Shukaku's forearm, and flexed it experimentally into a fist. "And my mother isn't here?"_

_"Karura?" Shukaku laughed. "And I thought you were so sure that it was me talking, all along. Well it was. Karura's dead, punk. Mommy's been in the ground for thirteen fucking years." Gaara lost his temper, and directed the sand arm toward the cage. The bars of both seals passed cleanly through the sand, and it struck the demon's grinning face, knocking him back across the cage of the Black Lions Seal. The monster chuckled through the pain, and crawled back to its feet. "Did I hurt your feelings, fleshbag? Did I piss you off? Good!" it cackled again. _

_"Silence," Gaara commanded forcefully, and the entirety of the desert around them rose up into a humanoid form that dwarfed the Tailed Beast and its cage. "For thirteen years you've been in control of me, but no more. I'm simply making it clear that the tables are turned now. I will take your power, whenever I want it, and you'll do nothing to stop me."_

_Shukaku stared up at the sand construct behind Gaara in total disbelief. Not only was it at least a dozen times taller than anything Shukaku could manage at the height of his power, but it was also a rather familiar face. "What... the... fuck."_

_Gaara turned and looked up at his mother's godly display of power, his eyes wide in shock. "M-Mother!?"_

_"Be strong, Gaara," she replied. "I'm always here for you."_

_"Well, that explains some shit," Shukaku muttered. "Kid, it was never me protecting your feeble little fleshbag body with the Shield of Sand. If I had a choice, I'd let us both fuckin' die so I could come back in my true form, completely free, in a few years. Now I finally know what the fuck was going on out there, that took the matter out of my hands."_

_"Mothers protect their children," Karura announced with a faint smile._

_"This still doesn't change jack shit!" the demon roared. "Bitch, you remember how the fleshbag and I made you cry away your dying breath? You remember that feeling of helplessness?"_

_"You look rather helpless yourself, all the way down there," she replied. "I should watch where I step." Shukaku remained silent at that._

_The bars of the Eight Trigrams Seal grew together into a complete golden cage around the Black Lions. The gates were locked shut by an ornate, swirling golden lock, over which a piece of paper with the kanji for 'seal' was laid. "It's time, Gaara." the boy looked back up at his mother, who explained, "Go to sleep. You've waited long enough."_

_Gaara began to cry, but he managed to shakily nod, and closed his eyes. _

_"I wonder what your first dream will show you," Karura smiled as her son faded out of his mindscape, and the first small piece of the Black Lions Seal broke away from the rest of the cage. Jiraiya was dismantling it in the real world outside, since Shukaku was now being contained properly by the Eight Trigrams Seal. "I hope it's a happy dream," she continued, talking to no one in particular. "Better yet, dream of happiness, then reach for it in the waking world... I know you'll make your mother proud."_

X

"It's done," Jiraiya declared, an hour later. "Well, my part of it is. I've applied the Eight Trigrams and removed the Black Lions. Shukaku's chakra is safely flowing through the seal into Gaara's reserves, and he can't damage Gaara's mind any more. Now all that's left is for his mind and body to adjust to the changes. He should wake up in a few hours."

"What about the seal key?" Naruto asked carefully, after a moment's consideration.

"The... seal key," Jiraiya repeated. "And just what do you know about the key to the Eight Trigrams Seal?"

Naruto winced. _If I tell him now, he'll probably think Kurama's manipulating me, so he'll fix the seal so we can't even talk. _"I've seen the inside of my own seal a few times. There's an exposed lock on the gate, I just assumed that meant there was a key."

"There is," Jiraiya replied, and cast a wary look at Naruto. "I'll write the key into a scroll when I'm alone, and then I'll give that scroll to a toad summons for safekeeping. There's no way in hell I'd ever want this kid to be able to open his seal and release his Tailed Beast."

Naruto blinked. "I get the distinct feeling you were talking about me there, not Gaara."

"I meant both of you." Jiraiya stood and glared down at the twelve-year-old boy. "Do you honestly think it's a good idea for me to give you the key to your own seal? You'd end up releasing the strongest demon currently living on this plane of existence, killing yourself in the process."

"Kurama isn't gonna..." Naruto winced. _Screw it, i'm just gonna tell him. _"The Nine-Tails' chakra is completely sealed off from me. I want access to it so I can fight the Akatsuki."

"No way." Jiraiya scowled. "Even if, through some miracle, 'Kurama' ended up giving you its chakra instead of destroying you, you'd just end up dying by getting trigger-happy with the power of a Tailed Beast. You'd poison yourself to death with it."

"It's not like that! Kurama's trying to cooperate with me!"

"Is that what it's telling you?" the sage replied coldly. "Give it up. You'll never talk me into giving you the key." he closed his eyes for a moment. "I knew your father. I trained him myself, and I know that the Eight Trigrams Seal he developed was capable of containing more than one chakra source. There's a trace of his soul in you, isn't there?"

Naruto nodded. "I haven't seen him since the night after you and I met."

"Well the next time he shows up in your subconscious, tell him about this stupid idea of yours. After that, if you can get his support on this craziness, and get him to tell you the name of the toad that has your seal's key, I'll give you the key."

The Jinchuuriki grinned. "That's good enough. I'll find some way to contact my dad again."

_It was a nice try, kid, but I don't think you're ever gonna pull that one off, _Kurama said with disappointment. _The Fourth is never gonna trust me._

_You said that about Hina-chan and Ino, _Naruto replied. _Look how that turned out._

_I admit, I underestimated mortals' capacity for compassion and forgiveness, but I killed your mom, the Fourth's wife, right in front of him! _Kurama growled. _He'll never trust me._

_He'll trust ME. _Naruto smirked. "Well, this has been fun, Pervy Sage," he addressed the fuinjutsu master, "but Hina-chan and I should really go meet up with Kiba now. We're supposed to be sticking together over the next month. See ya 'round."

Naruto made for the door, and Hinata sighed as she watched him leave. "Jiraiya-sensei, for what it's worth, I've talked to Kurama as well. Under the influence of a jutsu that prevented him from lying, he told Naruto-kun, myself, and a third party his entire life story. One of us broke down crying at it. I for one completely believe that Kurama is willing to cooperate with Naruto-kun." she followed Naruto out the door, and glanced at his face, noting with relief that he didn't seem to be upset. "Naru-kun, are you okay?"

"I'm actually doing pretty good," he admitted. "My heart's still in my throat, 'cause I honestly thought I could convince him for a moment, and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't, but he told me a way to change his mind. For now, that's good enough. And I can't forget, Pervy Sage just saved Gaara's life and suppressed his Tailed Beast. Right now he's back there, sleeping for the first time in his life. So I'm not angry 'cause he wouldn't give me the seal key. He's doing what he thinks is right, and he's giving me a fair chance to prove him wrong." he paused, then asked, "So where the hell's Kiba, anyway?"

"Byakugan," Hinata promptly activated her doujutsu, and quickly scanned Konoha for a glimpse of the Hellhound. After checking the Inuzuka Clan compound and some of Kiba's preferred training grounds, she spotted him. "He's at Ichiraku's... Ino's with him." she deactived her eyes, and immediately headed in the direction of the finest ramen in the Land of Fire.

"Whoa," Naruto breathed, "That was fast. You're getting better at that, Hina-chan!"

"I've been working on it a little," she admitted. "I couldn't find any documents that concretely proved there was a limit to how far the Byakugan can see, so I've been extending my range as far as I can. Right now, I can see for about a kilometre. We're lucky Ichiraku's was within that range... come on."

"Right." Naruto ran a short distance to catch up with her.

X

Kiba sniffed. "Lovebirds at six o' clock."

"Eh?" Ino set down her chopsticks. "Lovebirds?"

"Naruto and Hinata are coming," the Hellhound clarified. "Pretty quickly, in fact." he slurped up another mouthful of ramen, then spun his seat around to watch the two approach. He was surprised to see the two leaping over rooftops at an impressive rate. "Ah, I get it. They're trying to stick with a group, since that's the order Hokage-sama gave us, and they're alone right now, so if Mizuki pops up out of nowhere, they might still defeat him, but their report will show they were alone at the time, when they were told not to be."

"Huh." Ino took a small bite of her ramen. "So they're here to see us, then."

"Yeah, but how'd they know we were here?" Kiba frowned. "Was it Hinata's Byakugan? I never knew she could see this far."

"Maybe it's got something to do with Naruto's... condition," Ino suggested quietly.

"Condition?" Kiba blinked. _Right. The Nine-Tails. Bastard kept it secret from us until the Forest of Death, and even then it was Orochimaru who let it slip. _"You mean 'it' might be enhancing his senses. He could track us by scent?"

"Speak for yourself!" Ino giggled. "I don't smell."

"Oh?" Kiba set down his chopsticks, and leaned over to sniff her neck.

Ino went bright red as his hair tickled her neck and shoulder. "K-Kiba, what are you doing!?"

"Roses," Kiba said simply, then sniffed again. "Cherry blossoms, violets..." he lifted his head to sniff her hair. "Strawberry shampoo and vanilla conditioner." he brought his face close to hers, and gave one more quiet sniff. "That smells like... cherry lip gloss? Does it taste as good as it smells?"

Ino blinked, then smirked. "You tell me." Kiba's eyes widened as she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss.

As they arrived, Naruto wolf-whistled, prompting Hinata's faint blush to deepen slightly. "Kiba, you dog! No pun intended."

"Way to kill the moment, Naruto," Kiba grumbled.

"Forest of Death," the Jinchuuriki reminded him.

"Can you two just let that go!?" he groaned. "Hinata already got me back for it at the beach."

"You did?" Naruto asked her, wide-eyed, and she nodded.

"Hey, hold on." Kiba turned back to Ino. "How'd you know about Naruto's 'condition,' anyway?"

"They got me to put Hinata in Naruto's mindscape, but to do that I had to go in too. We talked."

"How come I wasn't invited?" Kiba asked angrily.

"Originally, it was just supposed to be Hina-chan, me, and Kurama," Naruto admitted. "It's an S-rank village secret, so we didn't even want Ino to know, but there was no way around it." Naruto paused. "Kurama says he wouldn't mind having guests again, though."

"Who's Kurama?" Teuchi and Ayame asked curiously.

"Sorry guys. Like I said, S-rank village secrets. Ninjas get killed for telling that kind of stuff to civilians."

"Oh, I see!" Ayame exclaimed quickly. "Then don't worry, we won't mention that name!" Teuchi nodded solemnly behind her.

"Thanks," Naruto replied with a grin. "So, Kiba, Ino, I thought you guys might wanna know Gaara and Tenten are out of the hospital, and Pervy Sage fixed Gaara's seal."

"Seal?" Kiba repeated quietly. "As in, the same way _you _have a seal?" Naruto nodded, and he groaned. "Come on, is there some kind of rule against telling me this stuff?"

"Actually, yeah. There was a rule against telling me too, apparently. I only found out I was number nine after the Land of Waves. By the way, Gaara's number one." Naruto avoided mentioning Jinchuuriki and Tailed Beasts for the benefit of the two civilians in charge of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Is there anything else I should know about?" the Hellhound asked half-heartedly. "Next you two are gonna tell us you're engaged." Naruto and Hinata exchanged glances. "You're kidding me."

"You two can't tell _anyone!_" Hinata declared frantically. "This is _so _much bigger than an S-rank secret. Hokage-sama doesn't even know yet." she glanced at Ino worriedly. "If you tell anyone, people will end up dying."

Ino gulped and nodded, along with Kiba. Both of them had mistaken it for a threat, and if Hinata of all people was threatening to kill them, it was obviously a serious matter. "Y-Yeah," they said in sync, "No problem."

The two sighed in relief. "Thanks," Hinata breathed. "I'm sure we can trust you."

X

Gaara opened his eyes slowly, and found himself still laying atop the sealing altar used for the Eight Trigrams Seal. A glance out the window showed him that it was late afternoon, and the sun was approaching the horizon. He sat up, and yawned. _So that's what it feels like._

"Did you have a nice nap?"

His eyes went wide, and he pulsed his chakra, searching for his sand gourd as he whirled to face Mizuki. "What do you want with me?" Gaara asked calmly, not showing how vulnerable he was without his sand. "I thought Orochimaru ordered you to retrieve Naruto's and Sasuke's doujutsu. I have neither a Sharingan nor Rinnegan."

"Change of plans." Mizuki scowled. "I was training to fight Naruto in the invasion, but I got a little impatient, and I came up with an actual plan this time. I'm gonna start by using you as a hostage, since you're so conveniently unarmed and helpless. Then, when the demon brat shows up to save your ass, I'll get him to let me isolate the two of us in a Diamond Dome. I've got two Oto Chuunin set to take you to Orochimaru at that point, then I'll kill Naruto, take his eyes, and bring them with me back to the hideout."

"Why bring me to Orochimaru?"

"Apparently the snake's in some kind of pact with Sasori no Akasuna. Sasori gets you and your One-Tail, and Orochimaru gets soldiers to destroy Konoha with."

"Sasori..." Gaara mused aloud. "The Scorpion of the Red Sand..." he stood up. _I have no access to a source of sand right now, so I'll have to be careful about my next move. I could use the sand in Konoha's roads, but... _"Let's go, then. Do you know where to find Naruto?"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Mizuki smirked as an exact duplicate of him blinked into existence, then exploded into smoke, relaying its memories to another clone watching Naruto stealthily. Said clone then popped to relay its own memories to Mizuki, telling him that Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and Ino were in Training Ground Forty-Two. "Yep, I've got him. Come with me, and don't bother trying anything."

Gaara's face remained impassive, and he folded his arms calmly before following Mizuki to the door. "Where is Jiraiya?" he asked after a moment.

"How the hell should I know? Where does he usually go when he's got free time?"

"Ah." Gaara nodded. "I should have known." _He assumed I was safe here, and went back to his spying. _

"Come on," Mizuki prompted him again, and opened the door to lead Gaara out of the apartment building. The Jinchuuriki immediately tested his control over the sand in Konoha's dirt roads, finding that it sluggishly responded to his commands. _Hm... this sand isn't laced with my chakra, and it's a poor material to work with, but I can still shape it into a new layer of sand armor. It's better than nothing. _He pulled the traces of sand up his sandals as he walked, forming it gradually upward into a layer of hardened sand.

It was slow work, but after several minutes it covered his whole body. Gaara began leaking his chakra into the sand to increase its durability, and as he did he felt the sand in the roads responding more quickly. _The dirt itself isn't a weapon I can work with properly, but if I pour enough chakra into it, I might be able to raise a pillar of it to signal Naruto..._

"Twin Rising Dragons!" Tenten screamed with fury, and a barrage of various peculiar weapons assaulted Mizuki from behind, with sufficient precision to avoid striking a wide-eyed Gaara. The missing-nin poofed into a familiar cloud of white smoke, revealing that he was a Shadow Clone.

"Tenten!" the disarmed demon host exclaimed with surprise as she landed. She was carrying a katana in a black sheath on her back.

"Gaara, are you alright?" she asked while glaring at another Mizuki who appeared on a rooftop ahead of where his clone had been walking.

"I'm unharmed, thank you," he replied.

"Good." Her eyes narrowed, and never left Mizuki's smirking face. "I know I can't take this guy alone. I'm not Naruto or Hinata, and even they fought him in a group, but you..." she smirked coldly, and whipped the katana off her back, sheath and all. "I brought this so you could destroy him."

She planted her free hand on the scabbard and slid it slowly off of the dull silver blade. The weapon's guard was a circle of iron with four tomoe sculpted to swirl away from the blade's base. The hilt was wrapped in black leather over rayskin dyed a deep crimson. She pointed the weapon at Mizuki. "The seal on the guard is set to release its contents when a certain passphrase is spoken by anyone. An ally can release it if you give them the command, but an enemy can't open it to tamper with the sand... let me show you."

She dropped the scabbard to the ground and grasped the weapon itself with both hands. "Stain, Kuroshi."

A wall of black dust shot out away from the outer edge of the guard, for twelve feet in all directions or until it hit something like the ground or a wall. Gaara immediately ducked behind the defense and used his chakra to hold it up before it could fall. "Black Death," he repeated. "It's a menacing name."

"You like it?" Tenten grinned, and pulled the sword free of the sand wall. "Go ahead, try it out."

Gaara shook his head. "This diamond sand will be the perfect weapon, but I haven't yet infused it with my chakra, and that takes time. It's my chakra that made my old sand fast enough to kill so easily with. It's best we stay on the defensive, which should be easy enough with this." he turned his attention from the sand to her. "You saved my life by coming here. Thank you, Tenten."

The weapon specialist blushed very slightly, but grinned. "It's not like I was planning some kind of awesome rescue moment," she admitted, "but it was pretty cool, huh?"

Gaara nodded. "Your timing was impeccable. My control over sand wavered when I first woke up, but it's strong again now. I was about to use the dirt in the road instead... How did you know I was here?" He asked, as he curved the sand wall around them to protect them from behind as well.

"I didn't. I went to Jiraiya's place to give you Kuroshi, and when you weren't there, I went looking for you. I spotted Mizuki with you, and there was no way in hell I was gonna let him take you, so I used my biggest weapon technique to buy time and release Kuroshi."

The wall finished curving into a dome, cutting off all light. "Right now, it's incomplete though. It still needs your chakra, and certain Fire Release jutsu can burn the stuff," she added quietly, "so I was gonna use a fuinjutsu to prevent that tomorrow, and over the next few days, seal a lot more diamond dust into the guard. It's got room in there to hold about fifty times what was in your gourd; any more than that and the seal would've been too big for the guard."

"Fifty?" Gaara repeated with a trace of shock in his normally calm voice. "Amazing," he murmured.

Tenten channeled Fire Release chakra into her hand, giving off a slight, warm orange glow from her palm to illuminate the inside of Gaara's new defense. She retrieved the scabbard, and handed it along with the weapon itself to Gaara, then blinked in surprise as the dome shook from an apparent attack from Mizuki. "So what do we do now?"

The dome shrank slightly to make up for a section of it splitting off and engulfing Gaara. His half-finished sand armor crumbled away to be replaced by the diamond dust, while the dome continued to shrink as a floor formed for it. "I can't defeat Mizuki," he said simply, "not like this. We'll need to signal Naruto and the others if we're to defeat him." The black sand faded into his normal skin tone, and he slid the sword back into its scabbard before slipping it into his white sash.

Tenten yelped in surprise as the structure of diamond sand shook and floated into the air. She stumbled, but managed not to fall over. "Are we flying!?" Gaara nodded silently. "Have you ever done this before?"

"When the situation called for it, yes," he replied, then glanced at the kunai strapped to Tenten's left forearm. "We've each given the other a weapon now," he noted. "This rather outdoes an ANBU kunai, however, doesn't it?"

Tenten grinned. "Another happy customer," she sighed. "I oughtta start exporting my weapons to other villages."

"I'll see to it that Suna buys from you," Gaara replied. "Now... we're currently fifty feet above the ground, in a dome of black sand. If that's not enough of a signal to draw Naruto's attention, I'll make some noise as well. Third Eye Jutsu." he closed his left eye to use the artificial one outside the black sand dome. Mizuki was shaping hand seals for the Fire Dragon Bullet. "You said this diamond sand is flammable?"

"It's pure carbon, so yeah," Tenten replied. "It's got some resistence to flame from the fire jutsu I made it with, so a D or C-rank jutsu isn't going to set it off, but anything above that..." she trailed off meaningfully, and made a gesture with her hands to imply an explosion.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!" Mizuki called, and exhaled a breath of fire that his chakra shaped into a half-sentient dragon. The dragon opened its jaws to roar, then shot toward the shelter of diamond sand.

Gaara pulsed his chakra into the dome, opening a hole in it to allow the dragon to pass cleanly through without touching the sand, him, or Tenten. When the flames emerged out the back of the dome, Gaara raised a cloud of sand and dirt from the road to strike the dragon. "Sand Coffin!" he called, and crushed the flames out of existence. "Now it's your turn," he growled, and directed a second flow of dirt and sand toward Mizuki.

As expected, the missing-nin dodged easily, and began the seals for his counterattack, "Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

Gaara scowled, and redirected the stream of sand he attacked Mizuki with to catch the flames. "Konoha shinobi specialize in Fire and Earth Release ninjutsu," he repeated what Orochimaru had told him in the Forest of Death. "They're the most common affinities here, and Mizuki is using solely fire jutsu out there. I don't know how long I can keep up in this state."

Tenten frowned. "I already used my Twin Rising Dragons. That's my strongest, largest attack, but I've still got three more scrolls' worth of weapons. We don't need more offense, though. You said we're just holding him off until the others get here, so what we need is something that'll stop a Fire Release jutsu..."

"Burning Blood Sacrifice." Mizuki slashed a kunai across his forearm, and the blood that splashed out burst into crimson flame. It grew into an ethereal red serpent that coiled and drew back its head to lunge at the dome.

"Tenten, that's an A-rank fire kinjutsu. If it hits..."

"Yeah, I heard him," she replied. "I've never heard of this one before... can you fly us any higher up?" Gaara nodded, and guided the sand structure containing them further into the sky. "Keep at it! We might be able to get out of his range, but if not... for now, open a hole in this thing."

The black sand crept away from a single point on the wall to create a circular opening. Tenten breathed in sharply when she saw how high up they were. The fire serpent above Mizuki was still growing as he bled. "All right, Gaara, how good are you with the Substitution Jutsu?"

"I know it well enough," he replied. "Why?"

"When Mizuki sends that fire thing to attack us, you switch with this kunai." she drew a dagger from her weapons pouch and fired it toward Mizuki, missing on purpose by ten feet to the left. "I'll switch with a shuriken." to accentuate her point, she threw one to the right of Mizuki. "This sand is gonna explode, but that's okay, I can make more."

Gaara nodded. "Then, we'll both attack him at close range down there?"

"I know it's not your style, but if we get close we can keep him from using fire jutsu, and-" her eyes widened as the fire attack above Mizuki finished forming and lunged at them. "Now!"

"Substitution."

"Substitution Jutsu!"

The fire serpent touched the diamond sand, and it promptly exploded into a massive orange and red fireball. Gaara and Tenten reappeared on either side of Mizuki, and Tenten drew her ANBU kunai. Gaara slid his new sword from its scabbard, and they both closed in on the missing-nin, who responded by drawing his first two Fuuma Shuriken from his back, blocking both attacks.

Gaara removed his left hand from the sword's hilt, and directed some sand to attack Mizuki while he was preoccupied with their blades. "Sand Coffin!"

"You're too slow," Mizuki snarled, and shoved Gaara back with one arm, then dodged into the space the Jinchuuriki had previously filled, sidestepping the sand. "And weak too, whoever taught you kenjutsu was a fucking idiot."

"Gaara," Tenten called, "swordplay with a katana takes both hands!" she dodged a swipe from Mizuki's weapon, and added, "Using both hands gives the blow its power! With only one, the weapon's too clumsy with that long hilt!"

"Interesting." Gaara returned his left hand to the sword's hilt, and directed his sand with only his mind, still getting nowhere against Mizuki with it. He experimentally swung the katana with both hands, and was suprised to find that it hit Mizuki much harder, and the older ninja was unable to push him back. "Would you mind teaching me this, when we get a chance?"

"No problem!" she called, and ducked Mizuki's next slash, then countered by swinging her kunai upward and grazing his extended arm. She crouched lower, then launched herself upward with her dagger aimed to pierce his heart, but the missing-nin dodged and grabbed her side, throwing her past him and toward Gaara. "Shit!"

Gaara's eyes widened, and he pulsed extra chakra into his diamond sand armor, letting her kunai scrape along his left arm and give off yellow sparks. He glanced past her to see Mizuki grinning and rapidly forming seals. He dropped his katana, caught Tenten, and pulled her to the ground, at the same time he forced his chakra and will into the sand he'd previously used to attack Mizuki. With no time to spare, he found himself sprawled on top of Tenten under a tiny sand shield that held back a breath of fire from Mizuki.

"N-Nice save," she gasped, grateful for the total darkness inside the dome that hid her blush. "Um... m-maybe you could get off me now?"

"No room," he replied bluntly. He blinked in the heat and darkness, noting that Mizuki was still breathing fire onto his shield. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Maybe a little," she admitted. "This situation could easily be taken out of context..."

"Out of context?"

"You read _one _Icha Icha book, and you can't look at _anything _innocently, _ever _again," she grumbled. _And it doesn't help that they're so damn addictive... _"N-Never mind. How long do we have until he cooks us in here?"

"He'll need to stop and take a breath," Gaara realized. "I can open the shield away from him then, and we'll have to move quickly..." He slid his arms under her back, prompting her to squeal in complete shock and disbelief. "I've never done this before," he admitted. "I hope it works like I've imagined."

"D-did you have to make that sound so dirty!?"

"I still have no idea what you're talking about." Mizuki cut off his attack to breathe, and Gaara's grasp on Tenten immediately tightened as his sand dome opened into a curved wall between the missing-nin and the two Genin. With no room to stand up, Gaara resorted to manipulating the sand he was wearing as an unstable form of flight, rocketing himself and Tenten to relative safety twenty feet away.

Gaara released her, noting the rather dark blush on her cheeks. "Oh," she mumbled as she comprehended what he had been planning. "T-Thanks," she added, and sat up as Gaara stood and retrieved Kuroshi by grasping it with a small cloud of sand. She stood, and drew a scroll from her pouch. _I don't think I'm gonna get anywhere with my remaining three scrolls, but I've gotta try..._

She laid the scroll at her feet and released the fifty assorted blades from within. Mizuki smirked and resumed making hand seals. She pulsed some chakra into her fingertips, connecting a chakra string to the hilt of each weapon.

"Chakra strings," Gaara recognized them. "Your technique is similar to a Suna puppeteer's, but since you're controlling the entire collection as a single attack, you can connect several weapons to each of your fingers..." _Kankurou would be rather interested in this..._

"Manipulated Tools," Tenten called, and whipped the various weapons together at Mizuki, "Iron Storm!"

Mizuki scoffed at the oncoming wall of razor-sharp metal, and countered, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Ten copies of Mizuki appeared in front of the original, blocking the weapons with their own bodies. His Cursed Seal of Earth spread over his skin, and he sneered, "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet Horde!" Tenten paled as a dozen fully formed Fire Dragon Bullets flew out of his open mouth and swirled around him. "This is my ideal jutsu," he announced. "Sure, I have stronger ones, ones that affect a wider area, but this one is truly perfect for me to use, now that I have the chakra for it."

"Tenten, I can't possibly gather enough sand in this environment to stop them all at once," Gaara called. "Do you have anything?"

"N-no, I've got two scrolls left but nothing in 'em can stop twelve Dragon Bullets," she admitted. The dragons snarled and hissed at their targets, then lunged.

Gaara dropped his sword to free up his hands, and tried desperately to gather enough sand for a proper defense. He watched the dragons split into two groups of six, one group aiming at each Genin. _I never imagined my existence could actually come to an end, _he mused silently, and aimed what sand he could gather into a final attack on Mizuki. _And so soon after I slept for the first time... I dreamed... _Gaara closed his eyes. _It was just the way I'd always hoped._

"SHINRA TENSEI!"

Mizuki's, Tenten's, and Gaara's eyes widened to see the twelve dragons blown into fiery bits by a wall of invisible force. Gaara's last arm of sand struck home on Mizuki's chest, and the Jinchuuriki recovered from the momentary shock in time to call, "Sand Coffin!"

"Damn it!" the missing-nin snarled, and triggered the second level of his Cursed Seal, just barely in time to withstand being crushed to death. He shook off Gaara's sand, and clapped his hands together into a seal. "Naruto _fucking _Uzumaki! You're early, demon brat!" he grinned viciously.

"Really?" Naruto grinned. "Looks to me like we had _perfect _timing!"

"...We?" Mizuki asked after a moment, frowning.

"Guardian Sixty-Four Palms!"

"...Shit." Mizuki turned his attention to the electric-green bladed arcs of chakra that Hinata sent his way. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!" The chakra blades sliced deep into the wall of stone Mizuki raised, but failed to reach the traitor himself.

"Rasengan!"

"Drilling Air Bullet!"

Naruto and Hinata let their strongest non-bloodline jutsu fly, watching with satisfaction as Mizuki's defense was blown to bits. "Gaara, Tenten, are you two hurt?" Hinata called as she formed another Rasengan in each hand.

"We're unharmed," Gaara replied.

"Thanks for the save," Tenten added. "We were pretty screwed for a moment there. We're out of chakra, and just about done with equipment too."

"Then get out of here, both of you," the host of the Nine-Tails replied, with a startlingly serious tone, never taking his eyes off Mizuki. "Hina-chan and me can deal with Mizuki ourselves, and Ino and Kiba are both getting us backup anyway. Get yourselves to safety."

"Right. Come on, Gaara, let's give them some space." he and Tenten retreated away from the battle.

Within Hinata's protective chakra structure, Naruto's Rinnegan eyes gave off a flare of purple light. "All right, Mizuki. You're not getting away this time!" he swiped his hands through a few rapid seals, and called, "Wind Release: Air Bullet!"

"That's all!?" Mizuki taunted, and easily dodged the sphere of wind. "You're gonna need something faster if you wanna hit me, and stronger if you wanna do any damage!"

"Like this?" Hinata replied, and threw her two Rasengan, one after the other. Mizuki dodged the first, but the second slammed directly into his chest and sent him flying. "That didn't kill him," she realized. "These Cursed Seals heal their bearers, nothing short of a one-hit kill will stop him!"

"I overcharged my Shinra Tensei to stop all those fire dragons," Naruto admitted. "I won't be able to use it for a solid two minutes. I don't think the Drilling Air Bullet can finish him when that seal's reinforcing his body, and if a Rasengan won't do it..."

"I can lure him in," Hinata decided quietly after a moment, and let her chakra grid fade away. She watched Mizuki slowly start moving again, trying to get to his feet. "There's only one jutsu either of us has, that's absolutely guaranteed to finish its target. You know you need an opening to get in close and connect with it."

"Hina-chan... you want me to use you as bait?"

"A diversion," she corrected. "This is the only strategy we have that can finish him in an instant. Trust me, Naruto-kun." she smiled warmly. "He won't land a killing blow on me."

"You've said it," Naruto grinned, "and you never go back on your word, right?"

"That's my nindou," she replied. "Now go."

Naruto nodded and leapt away, then used a Transformation Jutsu to turn himself into a chunk of rubble on the road. He watched with concern as Mizuki stood and drew a kunai. "Where's Naruto?" he demanded. "I can tell he'd never just run away and leave you here, so he's planning an ambush."

"It doesn't matter." she poised herself in the most common Gentle Fist stance. "I'm the only opponent you can see, so I'm the one you'll face."

"I hope he's still watching every second of this," Mizuki replied with a smirk, then lunged at Hinata with his kunai. "I hope he sees me gut you!" Hinata twisted to the side of the blade, just barely dodging it, and stepped back away from the former Konoha Chuunin's next swipe, which narrowly missed her throat. "That's why I'm coming at you with a knife," he declared. "He won't see the light leave your eyes if I end you with a fireball!"

_He's fast, but his strikes are too wild. There's no skill to his attacks at all; I can still dodge. _Hinata backpedaled away from Mizuki, prompting him to advance and follow her for several steps, with the Genin barely dodging each swipe of his blade. After eight successful dodges, she broke the pattern she'd been following and slapped Mizuki's armed hand with an open palm, deflecting the kunai from her vital organs but intentionally letting it sink into her hip. "_NOW, Naruto!_"

Mizuki's eyes widened, and he tried to pull his blade free of Hinata's belly, but she whimpered and grasped his arm, preventing him from escaping. With his heart pounding in sudden fear, Mizuki felt Naruto's hand slam down onto the top of his head, grasping his scalp. "Die," Naruto ordered him coldly, then added, "Human Path." he pulled his hand away from Mizuki's head, and took with it the missing-nin's soul and memories.

"Hina-chan!" he exclaimed, and caught her as she stumbled, gently guiding her into a comfortable laying position.

"I'll live," she replied, and winced. "I made sure he missed my vital organs and blood vessels, so a medic-nin can heal this, and I won't bleed out before we get to one, not if we leave the kunai in the wound."

"Thank Kami," he breathed, then added, "Naraka Path." The King of Hell appeared behind Naruto in a burst of purple flame, slightly startling Hinata. "Enma, can you heal her?"

"Enma-sama can heal this one easily," the demon rumbled, and opened its mouth wide.

"Hina-chan, I have to pull out the kunai. Are you ready?" she nodded, and just barely choked back a scream as he carefully withdrew the weapon. He quickly picked her up bridal-style and laid her into the demon's mouth, then crawled in as well. "Heal her," he commanded, "Then take us to the Hokage."

"As you command, Enma-sama shall make it so." the King of Hell closed its mouth around them, then vanished with them inside.

"Hina-chan..." in the darkness, he heard her sigh in relief as the pain from her wound vanished. "You're the bravest person I know."

X

Kimimaro knelt formally before his lord, with his head hung low. "Orochimaru-sama."

"Hm?" Orochimaru turned away from his latest genetic experiment, and asked, "What is it, Kimimaro? Shouldn't you be beating some sense into Mizuki?"

"...That's exactly the problem," Kimimaro replied. "This morning, Mizuki never arrived for our training session. Further investigation showed that he went AWOL, and according to a note he left in his quarters, he intended to capture Naruto Uzumaki once again, in addition to the One-Tail and possibly Hinata Hyuuga."

"Hm? And how did it go?"

"He apparently took two... questionably loyal Oto Chuunin with him, whom I went to Konoha and retrieved. They informed me that Mizuki was apparently killed this afternoon. They were watching the confrontation from a distance, and they claim that Naruto Uzumaki pulled Mizuki's soul out of his body."

"Hm..." the Sannin chuckled for a few moments. "I told the fool he wasn't ready. Clearly I overestimated his usefulness and competence. What of the Chuunin you extracted?"

"Still alive, and mostly unharmed. Interrogation revealed they planned to flaunt their assistance to Mizuki if the plan succeeded, in order to get promoted to Jounin. In my personal opinion, they're idiots on the same level as Mizuki himself. I can either kill them now, release them, or deliver them to you. Whichever you prefer, Orochimaru-sama."

"Hm... bring them to Kabuto as sacrifices," the snake decided. "I have no use for ambitious idiots in my army, and Edo Tensei soldiers are mindlessly loyal killing machines. It's certainly a trade-up."

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama." Kimimaro bowed slightly lower, and coughed quietly before he left.

"Kabuto."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto emerged from a shadowed corner of the cave. "I should let you know, I'm merely a shadow clone. The real me is currently preparing the Second Hokage's DNA."

"No matter. Your ability to relay memories to the original will suffice... Kimimaro's sickness is getting worse?"

"Rapidly," the medic answered. "By my estimate, he has two months to live."

"Such a shame. He was always so useful and loyal." Orochimaru sighed, then turned to Kabuto with a serious expression. "So tell me, Kabuto, why are you spying on me?"

The clone shrugged. "For amusement, I suppose. At this point I have nothing to gain from betraying you."

"And what if you did have something to gain?"

"I'd ask you what more you could offer me, and if I didn't find that answer satisfactory, I'd stab you in the back, brutally."

"Hm. Your honesty will be the death of you one day, Kabuto."

"I wouldn't concern yourself with it too much. I have so much more to gain through cooperating with you. It's unlikely a better deal will ever come along."

"When you do make such a move, Kabuto, be ready to die." The medic pushed up his glasses nonchalantly, then his eyes widened as a kunai struck him in the forehead, dispelling him.

**Please Review!**


	21. Relationships

_One Narutoverse ryou equals ten yen according to the Narutopedia. Hence, one point two million ryou, the pay for the S-rank mission to kill Mizuki Tora, equals $128,844 Canadian, $123,264 US, or 76,212 British pounds sterling, for which I can't find the appropriate swirly L sign on this keyboard._

_Happy Halloween, by the way._

_Reviews this time came from griffin blackwood twice, Steam Powered Crow, Rose Tiger twice, Penguin Lord0029, Flameraven1, Ayrmed twice, Eliezerc, *Anon* twice, SilkyCash, Shizuka Taiyou twice, Musical cake twice, Agrond, Roxie.88, Penguin Lord0029 came back and reviewed again, Dragon Man 180 twice, YouAfraidYet, New to Naruto finished the story and reviewed again, batla, and Crystal M. Key. Thanks to everybody._

_griffin blackwood (1): Hn._

_griffin blackwood (2): Glad you liked it._

_Steam Powered Crow: Thanks to you I get the chance to clarify something that's been bugging me. Characters in this story are making Bleach references because Bleach, along with a few other manga, exist in this interpretation of the Narutoverse. Naruto and Tenten both read it, hence Tenten making a freaking zanpakutou for Gaara. I'll also mention that Temari is a Hellsing fan._

_Rose Tiger (1): Glad you liked it._

_Rose Tiger (2): Okay._

_Penguin Lord0029 (1): Your deduction was correct. _

_Flameraven1: No, Tenten will not be making weapons for Kiba and Hinata. Hinata has her spear as her signature weapon, and Kiba has his kunai even though his fighting style isn't well suited to weaponry._

_Ayrmed (1): I'm glad that was well-received, since that (Hiashi) is what I was worried I'd get flames about... not a single one. Nice._

_Ayrmed (2): Thank you._

_Eliezerc: Thank you as well. _

_*Anon* (1): And thank you._

_*Anon* (2): Hn!?_

_SilkyCash: I'd really hoped to put a lot more focus on Kiba/Ino, but I just can't bring myself to write anything worth reading about them individually or together... :( but I'll keep trying..._

_Shizuka Taiyou (1): They're also quite fun to write._

_Shizuka Taiyou (2): No promises._

_Musical cake (1): That's part of what I'm going for: unexpected things that haven't been done before and still come together in an enjoyable and coherent story._

_Musical cake (2): Likewise, that's exactly the reaction I love to see._

_Agrond: I'm starting to think I made the identities of those missing-nin way too obvious..._

_Roxie.88: Look forward no further, it has arrived!_

_Penguin Lord0029 (2): Hey, you came back, awesome! Naruto has Mizuki's memories but Mizuki never saw the reincarnated Hokages._

_New to Naruto (1): Thank you._

_Dragon Man 180 (1): I have a plan for those two events, which I'm rather excited about._

_Dragon Man 180 (2): I hope you don't mind if I copy/paste that quote:_

WOOOHHOOOOOHHHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, MIZUKI IS FINALLY DEAD! IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME. - Dragon Man 180

_It will be remembered for all time. Your idea for Naruto and Hinata is interesting but I think I've got enough planned out for both of them in the future._

_YouAfraidYet: Hinata is getting a Sage Mode, Naruto won't need one, and I'm on the fence with Kiba. Wait... Sakura's a Slug Sage!?_

_New to Naruto (2): Twenty... hehe. Good one. I agree completely on the subject of Kakashi; the guy makes a pretty crappy teacher from what I've seen of him._

_batla: Here you go, a shiny new chapter._

_Crystal M. Key: I was laughing my ass off when I wrote that scene._

X

"They're already debating how they're going to cut us up and divide the pieces." Naruto bared his teeth in a growl. "I've seen it in Mizuki's memories. They've got their sights on three of us so far. Me, Hina-chan, and Sasuke."

The Hokage listened patiently along with Hinata, whose hand was still instinctively clasped over where she'd been stabbed. There was no trace of a wound or even a scar, but she found she couldn't stop double-checking.

"There were three in the group. Orochimaru wanted a Rinnegan and Sharingan. Kabuto Yakushi... he's a traitor by the way, he wants a Rinnegan and Byakugan." Hinata paled. "Then the third guy was wearing one of those cloaks we were told about in the Academy. Akatsuki. They called him Sasori, and they're planning to give him a Sharingan and Byakugan in exchange for... something."

The Jinchuuriki cast an apologetic look at the Hokage. "Mizuki never found out what exactly the guy was trafficking in, but he saw the inside of one of the cases he brought, when Orochimaru opened it. It had a bunch of syringes in it, full of liquid and all of them had different labels. He was too far away to read what was on 'em."

"Unless the Akatsuki somehow managed to find another S-rank ninja with the name 'Sasori,' then the one you saw is Sasori of the Red Sand, a missing-nin from Suna who specializes in turning the bodies of skilled shinobi or those with bloodlines into 'human puppets.' I'm assuming those syringes are DNA samples extracted from his creations." Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, and sighed. "There's only one use Orochimaru would have for such samples."

"Which is?"

"Resurrecting the originators of said DNA through a kinjutsu, called the Impure World Reincarnation or Edo Tensei." The Third scowled. "Clearly, there's no level Orochimaru won't stoop to. Fortunately, thanks to you we know about this plan, and can counter it. There's only one way to stop an Edo Tensei: fuinjutsu. You must seal the resurrected soul to seperate it from the body."

"Will any old seal work? Can we just put 'em in a basic storage seal?"

"It takes something a bit more substantial than that," the Professor replied. "The most common method is a one-point Sealing Tag, to be applied once the reanimated ninja is incapacitated with a blow that would kill them when alive. Normally, they'd regenerate, but if a Sealing Tag is applied, the jutsu freezes. They're put into a state similar to a coma, and unless the tag is forcefully removed by their allies, they remain in that state until the summoner releases the jutsu."

"So we'd have to kill or capture the summoner... and it's kinda obvious who that'd be."

"Orochimaru. How fortunate that he plans to come right to us during the finals," Sarutobi smirked mirthlessly.

"Yeah, about that... Hina-chan?"

"Hm?"

"We're gonna go all-out in our match, I promise, but no matter who wins, you've gotta be the one who continues to the next round. I've gotta be by Hokage-jiji's and Gaara's side when Orochimaru makes his move."

She nodded. "Then make sure you leave an impression in our match, Naru-kun. You'll only get the one chance to earn a promotion to Chuunin."

"Heh." Naruto grinned. "With the match we're gonna put on, neither one of us is gonna need a second chance to show our skills. The whole crowd's gonna have to pick their jaws up off the floor when we're through, believe it!"

The Hokage paused to puff on his ancient clay pipe, then spoke up, "The four of you did well, for your first S-rank mission. Kiba sent for an ANBU team to aid you, which has now retrieved Mizuki's body instead. We've been able to salvage his equipment, including some experimental new soldier pills, and we also now have a Cursed Seal we can experiment on in ways that would kill a living host like Anko or Sasuke. With luck, we might even be able to find a safe way to remove it."

"Speaking of Sasuke," Naruto replied, "Where'd he go? We looked for him yesterday, but we couldn't find him."

"Kakashi is currently training him in seclusion, both for the Chuunin Exams and the invasion. Now that the situation with Mizuki has been dealt with, I suggest you two train as well. Learn some new jutsu, new tactics, things the enemy won't see coming from the preliminaries. When the invasion actually begins, make sure you each have a supply of Sealing Tags, and soldier pills would also be a good idea."

X

_What a beautiful full moon._

_Fuck you, fleshbag._

Gaara lay comfortably in a bed of sand he'd gathered, staring up at the evening sky from the roof of where the Suna teams were staying. At his side lay a sheathed katana with several hundred pounds of black sand sealed into the guard. He was facing away from the vibrant orange and purple sunset, watching as the eastern sky grew slowly darker. _Clearly you and I will never get along, _he addressed Shukaku.

_Oh sure, we can get along, just open this damn cage, or give me control of your body, and we can be best buds. _The demon chuckled. _No deal? I didn't think so!_

"Hey, Gaara?" Temari approched her brother, still with eminent caution. "You wanna come down off the roof? Baki and I made your favorite, salted shita."

"Thank you, nee-san." Gaara stood and slid his sword into place under his sash. "I understand my taste in food is unusual; you must have had a hard time finding the ingedients."

"Gaara, look." Temari meshed her fingers together nervously. "I... I wanna know what's going on with you. You've got me and Kankurou really freaked out with how... _normal _you're acting."

"I thought I'd managed to explain it properly..." Gaara shook his head. "I'm sorry to worry you like this."

"That's exactly what worries me!" Temari cried out in exasperation. "What happened to 'shut up, you've never been my sister, if you get in my way I'll kill you?' I'm more scared of you now than I was then! Back then, I at least knew what to expect, and what the signs to run like hell were!"

"I..." he sighed and stepped past her. "If that's all that worries you, I can only promise that I won't go back to that. I've changed for the better, Temari, and I intend to stay this way. Let's go enjoy our meal."

After a moment, she silently accepted, and followed him down from the roof into the apartment complex, then to their apartment. Kankurou was already seated at the table, tearing into his hamburger hungrily.

"Yo, Temari, Gaara." Kankurou waved lazily. "Uh, Gaara, is it okay if I ask you something?"

"By all means." the Jinchuuriki seated himself and reached for a pair of chopsticks.

"What was with that girl who came looking for you a couple days ago? What's the deal between you and her? She seemed to like you."

"Of course Tenten likes me. Friends usually do like each other, isn't that right?" Gaara asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, but I mean, she _likes _you likes you."

"I don't follow."

"She's _interested _in you." Kankurou was suppressing a suicidal urge to laugh at his younger brother.

"...As far as I can tell, you're still just stating the obvious, Kankurou. What is it you're actually trying to say?"

Temari sighed. "Kankurou, let me handle this." she turned to Gaara. "Does Tenten have a tendency to blush around you and act embarassed, for instance when you say nice things to her?" Gaara nodded. "What about when you're in some form of physical contact? She probably turns really bright red then, right?"

Gaara blinked. "I assumed that had something to do with the heat from Mizuki's Fire Release."

"...Okay, tell me more about that situation," his sister ordered firmly.

_She's acting more relaxed around me... this conversation must somehow be helping her to see me as her little brother. _"When we were fighting Mizuki, he threw Tenten off-balance and in my direction, while aiming a fire jutsu at us. I responded by guiding us both to the ground, with myself on top of her..."

Kankurou started laughing boisterously, drawing a confused look from Gaara. "...under the largest sand shield I could manage at the time, which was rather small." the Jinchuuriki frowned as he relived the memories. "After that, we waited for Mizuki to pause for breath, at which point I wrapped my arms around her and used my control over the sand I was wearing as armor to fly us a short distance away from Mizuki."

Temari leaned forward intently in her seat. "Did Tenten say anything under that sand? Anything you considered unusual?"

"Hm..." Gaara recalled her exact words. "'This situation could easily be taken out of context.' I didn't understand what she meant... Which reminds me, she said something else I found confusing. When I came up with the idea to fly us to safety, and I wrapped my arms around her to take her with me, I said 'I've never done this before, I hope it works like I've imagined.' she replied with... hm... 'did you have to make that sound so dirty?'"

"Okay, one last question, and this is an important one." Temari locked eyes with her brother. _If she's a fangirl, then we're going to have a serious problem. There's no way Gaara could handle fangirls and maintain his newly discovered sanity. _"Does Tenten have a tendency to giggle uncontrollably around you?"

"Not at all," Gaara replied, watching in confusion as his sister gave a relieved sigh. "What's the point of all this?"

Temari frowned. "Maybe it's best if I let you two deal with this on your own." seeing Gaara frown, she added quickly, "It's nothing bad, it's just... something Tenten should tell you herself. She's showing signs of wanting to be... more than friends with you."

"I see." Gaara nodded, and resumed eating. "I just hope that when she tells me, I'll be able to comprehend what she's saying, unlike now. Neither of you are making any sense to me." Kankurou snorted and hunched over his plate, laughing. The youngest Sand Sibling calmly ignored him, and decided silently, _my brother is insane._

_Coming from you, that's pretty fuckin' ironic, _Shukaku observed with a mad cackle.

_I don't suppose you have anything valid to say about Tenten, do you?_

_Oh, even I understand this better than you do, but it's more fun to watch you stumble around in the dark like the idiot fleshbag you are. Stumble, meat monkey, stumble around for eternity! Amuse me! _

_...Just when I start to consider striking a deal with you, you remind me of all the reasons why that would be a terrible idea. _

_...A deal?_

_We can talk about it later, when you're just rude instead of completely incoherent. _

_Fuck you, fleshbag._

X

"Okay, watch this one."

Hinata glanced around Training Ground Thirty, which was a paved field with no obstructions, ideal for testing a new and powerful Water Release ninjutsu. Satisfied that there would be no unexpected visitors jumping in the way of a possibly S-rank ninjutsu, she activated her Byakugan, and a glowing vibrant blue Eight Trigrams circle appeared around her. "Water Release: Eight Trigrams, Guardian Sixty-Four Palms."

Naruto watched giddily as Hinata shaped her chakra into curved, glowing blue threads that quickly formed a full dome around them both. The threads leaked chakra-laced water that shaped itself to fill the holes between the chakra arcs, creating a perfectly smooth hemisphere of water around them. "This is as far as I should take it without a water source, at least if I'm in a battle, but I need to push myself and build my chakra reserves..." she closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. "Yes, I'll take it further this time..."

"You mean this isn't the finished jutsu?"

"No. An Earth Release user would be able to reach us in here, from below. I've solved that problem by creating a full sphere of water that I can float inside, but I can't do it with a passenger inside, because I have to maintain a layer of water over my skin to levitate myself in. I can't do that with another person, not yet. But... I can show you another new jutsu I can use through this one. Water Release: Hollow Water Dragon."

The dome of water and glowing chakra blades distorted outward, shaping into the head of a dragon with its teeth bared in a snarl. The entirety of the creature soon followed and twisted in the air, hissing toward the sky angrily. "I created this jutsu to compensate for the chakra cost of a full Water Dragon Bullet. The more water I create, the more chakra I pay, but this version loses very little power and it's made up of one seventh as much water as the original. I can use it even more freely than a basic Water Bullet, and when I do so through the Guardian Sixty-Four Palms, I don't need hand seals."

She spun and whipped her arm through the air, guiding the Hollow Water Dragon with the same arc. "It's lighter and faster, you won't get away!"

Naruto's eyes widened, and he activated his Rinnegan then turned to see who Hinata had attacked. The dragon circled around a black-cloaked child no older than either of them, preventing his or her escape. "Who are you?" Naruto demanded.

"Naruto, don't you recognize the color of his chakra?" he pointed to the boy, and Naruto noticed that his chakra was cold, pure white. "It's _him_."

"I came to apologize," Haku replied sadly, and pulled down his hood to reveal a Konoha headband. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but I still had to come here and tell you. I'm sorry." he tugged on the right shoulder of his cloak, pulling it off entirely and letting it fall to the ground. "I'm unarmed," he declared, and gestured to the lack of any weapons pouch on his leg or waist.

Hinata's dragon slowly retreated away from Haku, then collapsed into a puddle. "I'm not one to hold a grudge," she decided. "But what are you doing here, wearing a Konoha headband?"

"Zabuza-sama and I decided we were tired of running from Kiri. We considered joining a few other villages, but after what we saw from your team in the Land of Waves, Konoha was the obvious choice. We arrived... eight days ago, now."

"And immediately detoured to heal two injured brats at the main gate." Zabuza appeared out of nowhere with a Body Flicker. "They wouldn't happen to be friends of yours, would they?"

"It doesn't matter who they were," Haku addressed his master firmly. "By the time a proper medic-nin team arrived to heal them, the damage to their inner ears would likely have healed incorrectly. They'd be deaf for the rest of their lives, and their careers as shinobi would be over. We did the right thing by saving them."

"Wait. That was _you?_" Naruto asked. "You healed Gaara and Tenten?"

"So you do know them," Haku replied. "What a fortunate coincidence."

"Kiba Inuzuka," Zabuza called. "I remember the names of anyone skilled enough to wound me, and he was the youngest since Yagura when we were both kids. Where is he now?"

"What do you want with Kiba?" the two Genin replied angrily in stereo.

"Take it easy," Zabuza answered calmly. "I was just wondering whether he'd died since I last saw him. We're allies now, remember? Heh, newbies. As shinobi, you'd better get used to situations like this, where your mortal enemy from last week is suddenly your teammate, and the guy you've trusted since childhood goes missing-nin and hits you with an assassination ninjutsu. Anyway... I liked the kid's attitude, and the Hokage told us to pick some shinobi here to immediately teach whatever skills we took with us from Kiri. Kiba would've been my first choice for the Silent Killing; he's a natural."

"...Kiba's working alone right now," Naruto admitted. "He's working on improving his new jutsu, and right now it's a little unstable."

"Che, fine. I still need to teach somebody something, though, and right away. Haku, maybe teach the girl a bit of your Ice Release. From what I've heard and seen, she's got skill with her element that'd put some Kiri Jounin to shame."

"Hm..." Haku nodded, and addressed Hinata. "What's your secondary element?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

"Well... I'm not much good as a teacher," the last scion of the Yuki Clan admitted, "and with just the Water Release, you'll never be able to fully utilize the Ice Release, but let's try it."

"Hold on!" Hinata exclaimed angrily. "Two months ago you killed me! Now you want to train me?"

"Shinobi change their allegiances freely when circumstance calls for it, both individually and as entire villages," he replied, "And it was never personal. Our missions conflicted with one another, and I did what was necessary to help my precious person. If you don't want to work with me, I suppose I can find someone else and teach them my skill with senbon instead."

Hinata considered this. "...You really think I can learn to use a kekkei genkai I don't have?"

"In the Land of Snow, there's a ninja village filled with Ice Release users. Not one of them is a member of the Yuki Clan, so instead they use a modified version of the Water Release to simulate my kekkei genkai. If you can learn to do that, I can teach you to imitate some of my jutsu with it. I can't promize that'll work, but I want to at least try to pay you back for piercing your heart."

"And as for you," Zabuza addressed Naruto, "I heard a few days ago that you've picked up some kenjutsu skills. Apparently this village's resident sword expert trained you one-on-one." he pulled a scroll out of his pocket and unsealed Kubikiri Bouchou from within. "Are you any good?"

"I can manage," Naruto replied, and unsealed his cutlass, "but I really just use it to back up my ninjutsu."

Zabuza laughed harshly. "That's just stupid, an amateur's way of thinking! When I'm through with you, your sword skills are gonna match your ninjutsu or better. I'm gonna teach you everything I know, and you'd better damn well put it to good use. Now come at me!"

"Do it, Naruto-kun." Hinata let her Guardian Sixty-Four Palms explode into a spray of harmless mist, and Naruto charged at Zabuza. The older swordsman easily swatted aside Naruto's first few swings, but the younger ninja was far faster with his lighter weapon, and began to push Zabuza back.

"Not bad!" Zabuza grinned under his mask, and blurred as he dodged Naruto's next attack with sickening speed. "Whoever taught you one-handed kenjutsu knew what he was doing. You're focused on speed with your moves, as you should be with that weapon, but just how fast can you move?" he raised his own massive sword with both hands, then brought it down on Naruto.

Naruto threw himself to the side of the famous blade's path, and countered with a slash of his own. Zabuza smirked, and his sword along with both of his arms blurred into the path of Naruto's attack in an instant. "That's what you're gonna be able to do, kid. That..." Zabuza vanished, and reappeared to Naruto's left, then blinked to his right before the younger ninja could finish turning. After a brief moment, Zabuza began appearing, disappearing, and reappearing so frequently that there appeared to be a circle of clones dancing in and out of existence around Naruto. "...and so much more!"

"Why didn't you do this in the Land of Waves?" Naruto demanded. "With this kind of speed, you could have wiped us all out!"

"It takes a lot of chakra out of me," the former Kiri Jounin admitted as he stopped moving, "It can kill me if I hit something, I find it a bit too flashy for an assassin like myself to use... I wish I could say any of those were the reason, but to be honest I underestimated you four until it was too late. I used it a bit against your sensei, but I didn't want to waste it on Genin such as Kiba." he pointed to a scar from a kunai stab on his hip. "That mistake cost me."

Naruto lowered his weapon, and decided. "All right. If you wanna teach me this stuff, I'm game." _It's like that jutsu Mizuki used, the Pulse Step Jutsu... damn it, I wanna learn how to flash step! _

"First, let me have a look at that sword." Naruto hesitated for a moment, then handed the former missing-nin his cutlass. "Not bad quality, especially since it's a Konoha sword. Most of the best ones come from Kiri and Kumo, since they make the best swordsmen too."

"It's actually from Uzushio."

"Hidden Whirlpool?" Zabuza nodded thoughtfully. "I should've known; they were the only ninja village in the world known to use cutlasses. The black rustproof coating on the blade makes even more sense if it's from a village near the ocean, but it makes it more difficult for me to judge the quality of the metal. Still... I can tell that both the metal and the coating are durable, since there's no trace of damage from our fight. Since you keep it in a seal small enough to fit on a ring, I'm assuming the pocket dimension in the seal is shaped to fit the sword exactly?" Naruto nodded. "Good. Doing that means the weapon is isolated away from anything that could damage it. You don't need to oil the blade, and rust should never be a problem."

Meanwhile, Haku explained to Hinata, "My kekkei genkai lets me use a mixture of Water and Wind Release chakra. Although, in theory, anyone with those two elements can use the Ice Release, in reality it takes an absurd level of chakra control."

"I might be able to manage that," Hinata mused.

"Only if wind turns out to be your secondary element... Wind Release is the component that cools down the water to _far _below the freezing point. My ice can't be melted, because my chakra keeps it that cold. You, on the other hand, don't have that element yet, and you might never develop it, so you'll have to create ice the same way the Hidden Mist Jutsu creates mist."

"Water can be controlled through Water Release ninjutsu whether it's a liquid, solid, or gas. You'll need to learn how to apply shape transformation to water on a deeper level than just shaping the liquid into a ball, or a dragon. That's what I'm going to teach you, really: not an Ice Release, but a new way to use the Water Release. That's because the stronger of my bloodline jutsu use ice as a medium for various supernatural abilities that normal ice just doesn't have. Without the kekkei genkai, you'll just be able to use ice instead of water for more powerful defensive jutsu. Likewise, I imagine an Ice Bullet would be much more forceful than a Water Bullet."

X

Tenten, sprawled out on her floor amid various sheathed weapons, snored. Two scrolls were laid out on the table in front of her, unfurled. One's storage seals were only half-filled with her newest weapons, leaving the other half scattered on the table. Early that morning, she'd simply laid down midway through sealing her weapons and fell asleep on the floor.

Thus, when two quick knocks on her front door woke her up, she was less than pleased.

"Ugh... What the HELL!?" she roared and sat up to make for the door. "Not _again_! I've told you impatient jackasses I _deliver _the weapons when they're finished! Store policy, right on the front door! You can read it right now!" she paused, grabbed one of the various nearly-finished katana from the floor for good measure, then stormed through the shop toward the front door. "The Chuunin Exams start in _three freaking days, _so let me _sleep! _And that door also says we're _closed_, so you'd better not be here to order something. Now, what the hell..." she threw the door open. "is... so... important?"

Gaara was staring back at her with shocked wide eyes.

"...You wanted to see me?" the Jinchuuriki questioned after a long silence. "I can come back later..."

"No, no!" Tenten exclaimed and stepped aside to invite him in. "I just didn't get much sleep last night, that's all. My parents usually help me run this shop, but they're ANBU and they're out on missions most of the time. Now, combine that with the insane demand on the shop right now from ANBU and Jounin stocking up for the invasion. With so much demand, I've actually been forced to close the shop so I can finish the orders I've already received, and not have to worry about more." She held up the unfinished katana and sheath in her left hand. "Plus I was working on some new stuff for myself. Come on, I'll show you."

She led him past the display shelves at the front of the shop, down a hallway lined with more exotic and expensive pieces, and into the actual workshop where she'd been sleeping. She picked up a bundle of three scrolls from atop an anvil, grinned, and showed them proudly to Gaara. "I've been really busy lately, like I said, but the wellbeing of my friends comes first." she handed him the black scroll first. "That's your black sand, and I already applied a fuinjutsu to fireproof all of it. I actually think I made a bit too much for the seal on Kuroshi."

"And what are the other two?" Gaara asked, pointing to the grey and white scrolls in Tenten's hand.

"The grey one's for Kankurou; the white one's for Temari," she beamed, and handed them both to Gaara. "A mountain of sand, a giant fan for wind attacks, a remote-controlled war puppet... do all Suna shinobi use weapons like that?"

"Quite a few use fans and puppets, but not all of us."

Tenten grinned. "It's gonna be fun making weapons for you guys, then. Now check this out." she made her way to the table she'd fallen asleep in front of, and resumed sealing senbon wrapped in explosive tags into a slightly larger than normal scroll. "I call this one Manipulated Tools: Wrath of Heaven, and that one there..." she pointed to the other scroll, "is Pain Without Suffering."

"Knowing you, I expect they'll live up to their names."

"Actually, since your sand's fireproofed now, I was hoping to show you firsthand. We could test our attacks against each other's 'ultimate defense.'"

"I didn't know you had an ultimate defense."

"That's because I finished it last night," she replied with a grin. "Wait here, I'll go get it!"

Gaara blinked, then watched Tenten excitedly vanish down the hallway. _I still don't understand. From what Temari implied, Tenten is keeping certain feelings secret from me... something she wants to tell me but can't. And yet, she doesn't seem troubled or unhappy because of that. She seems more and more at ease around me, each time I see her. So what is it?_

_You're a dense little ape, aren't you? _Shukaku laughed harshly. _It's pretty fun watching you try to figure this out with your little meatbag brain, but I hope she tells you soon. I don't want this to get old._

_...That's what passes for fun to you?_

_I don't have much to do in here, kid._

_Then consider the deal I offered you._

"Okay, check this out!" Tenten stepped through the doorway, clad in a skintight black bodysuit with thicker-than-normal black mesh armor over its entirety. "My sensei Might Guy wears these all the time, and he's always been pushing the three of us to try wearing them. He said they were 'breathable, retain moisture, and allow full freedom of movement.' He also says they look 'youthful,' but his is bright freaking green. Seriously, what kind of ninja wears bright green spandex?"

She shrugged. "Anyway, Guy-sensei finally got me to try one on, and I looked ridiculous, but he was right about one thing: I could move every limb in every direction, more easily in this than I could in the civilian clothes I normally wear. So, I got it dyed stealth black and forged a suit of mesh armor to wear over it. The stuff is damned uncomfortable over bare skin, so I've been wondering for months how Anko can stand it, but anyway... this mesh armor is different. It's thicker, and more rigid like an exoskeleton."

"It suits you," Gaara observed. "An 'ultimate defense' that requires no chakra at all, instead relying on a ninja's equipment. I fail to see how it would stop my sand, however."

Tenten pulsed her chakra into the mesh armor, triggering the fuinjutsu written over the entire exoskeleton to glow faintly blue. "Like _every _weapon I use, this suit includes a seal. This one forms a barrier ninjutsu over the mesh..." a layer of a clear, crystalline substance like blown glass flashed into existence over the suit, "...that can stop an attack that would normally..." she drew a senbon from her weapons pouch and stabbed it into the crystal, which deflected the needle harmlessly. "...slip right through the mesh. For instance, senbon and sand. Also, my head and hands are exposed through the suit, but with this seal that doesn't matter."

"Ah... my brother has his work cut out for him, when he faces you in three days. But I can see now why you'd want to test that seal against my sand. You want to know just how long it can hold up before it cracks, or if a strong enough attack can shatter it instantly."

She nodded. "And we've gotta test _your _defense too, before you count on it with your life on the line in the invasion... but mostly I just think it'd be fun to spar with you. But you reminded me to mention Kankurou shouldn't use his new weapon in his fight with me. Tell him to save it for the invasion, since I know how to deal with it anyway. After all, I designed it. Now come on! I know a great place where we can train, and not have to worry about anyone seeing what we can do."

X

A few minutes later, the two of them stood alone in an isolated clearing in the forest surrounding Konoha.

"Stain, Kuroshi." Gaara drew his sword in the same moment that its guard began releasing black sand, which poured out over the ground. "To begin, I'll try to hold back the full force of my sand in case something goes wrong."

"Likewise," Tenten smirked, and pulled out one of her scrolls. "'Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional," she murmured, and the wax seal on the crimson scroll shattered in response to her voice. "Manipulated Tools: Pain Without Suffering."

"A new weapon already?" Gaara let himself grin with half-sane excitement as a collection of ordinary-looking kunai sprang forth from the unfurled paper. "What does this one do?"

"You might want to get that Shield of Sand ready," she replied, and leapt high into the air, flinging seven kunai at him. Instinctively, Gaara raised a wall of black sand to stop them, but his eyes widened subtly when the kunai were yanked backward through the air away from him. He noted with surprise that a chakra string was threaded through the pommel rings of the kunai, allowing Tenten to retract the attack and throw it again. The chakra string shattered this time, allowing the kunai to properly strike Gaara's defenses.

Gaara flinched in surprise as the kunai exploded, thanks to rolled-up explosive tags hidden under the white hilt wrappings. His sand kept him safe easily, however, and he countered, "Black Death: First Incarnation, Corruption."

As Tenten fell back toward the ground, Gaara's sand rapidly and violently washed outward over the grass and dirt, prompting her to throw a kunai into the trunk of a tree and Substitute with it. "That was close," she admitted. "I don't remember you ever doing that before... you called it 'First Incarnation,' right? How many are there?"

"Four," Gaara answered, "Keeping with the theme you created for this weapon, and the symbolism of the number four representing death." he released more sand from Kuroshi's guard. "Second Incarnation, Plague."

Tenten's eyes widened as the sand on the ground floated up into a black cloud in the air, radiating outward from Gaara in all directions. _There's no way I'm gonna be able to dodge that! _Just before the sand cloud washed over her, she triggered the seal on her armor, and watched helplessly as the sand coalesced over the barrier ninjutsu she now wore. "Sand Coffin." she flinched, but the barrier held. The pressure on her armor lifted as Gaara ceased his jutsu, and she responded by drawing forth her second new scroll, scattering the sand.

"I didn't want to use this yet," she declared. "Since it takes so long to refill, I was hoping to use it after holding you off with a few of my other scrolls. Still, it's gonna be fun, and I made sure to stock up a lot of these anyway... Manipulated Tools: Wrath of Heaven!"

Gaara gathered his sand into a black hill around himself, then formed a Third Eye outside it to watch Tenten unseal a handful of senbon wrapped in several explosive tags each. She threw six bundles of explosives at his defense, then set them all off at once, blowing it to bits. Her eyes widened and she gasped, suddenly worried she'd killed him. "Gaara!?" she leapt down to the ground and sprinted toward the center of the scattered sand.

"I admit it's not a tactic any Oto-nin could use on you," Tenten froze as Gaara's hand clamped down on her shoulder from behind, "but no matter. Sand Coffin."

_He must have used a Transformation to blend in with the sand! _"Damn!" she triggered her seal, shielding herself from the sand once again, then reached for her weapons pouch and produced a kunai, stabbing it behind her back into Gaara's sand armor which gave off sparks as it deflected the weapon. "You messed up; I've got you at close range now!" she spun to face him and attacked again with her kunai, watching with satisfaction as he successfully blocked each strike with his katana. "You're getting better," she admitted, "but I've still got the advantage up close."

"At this range," Gaara countered, "I can still use my sand, but you can't properly deploy an explosive tag."

"That was true yesterday, but now..." she leaned back out of the way of a slash from Kuroshi, letting go of her kunai to reveal a tag stuck to the hilt. "Boom."

The two of them were both struck by the explosion and sent flying to opposite sides of the clearing, along with a cloud of black sand kicked up by the explosion. After a few moments, Gaara sat up with his sand armor cracked over much of his body. "You didn't hesitate for a single instant." He cast a confused look at Tenten, who was struggling to climb out of a dune of black sand that didn't want to let her go. _What is this feeling? This connection... I can feel it growing stronger with every blow we trade. We're fighting, and yet..._

He stood, and forced the black sand to release Tenten, gathering much of his trademark weapon into a hill that formed under his feet. _We're fighting, and yet we're growing closer together. I don't understand this feeling... _"Third Incarnation, Oppression." the hill under his feet shrank as the material forming it was pulled away, shaped by Gaara's chakra into four massive, clawed monstrous arms that floated to his sides, ready to attack. _...But I'm enjoying it! _

Tenten readied two scrolls full of sealed weapons, and triggered a smoke bomb just as Gaara's sand arms shot forward. She leapt into the air with the scrolls following her, and roared with a grin, "Twin Rising Dragons!"

_She feels it too. _Gaara grinned back, and shaped more sand arms to block and counter the barrage of weapons she let fly. _It runs far deeper than friendship... perhaps this is what Temari and Kankurou meant. If so... _he threw one of his own kunai to strike one of the sand arms that reached for Tenten, noting with satisfaction that she was using bursts of chakra to push herself aside, dodging the attacks even in midair. _I'll share this feeling with her. _"Substitution!"

Tenten gaped at him as he reappeared atop one of the sand arms she'd just dodged, and swung his katana at her, forcing her to block with the kama she'd been about to throw. His feet left the sand behind, and they both began to fall back to the ground, leaving their attacks in the air above them. She drew the ANBU kunai he'd given her from the sheath on her forearm, tossing aside the kama to wield the kunai with both hands and swipe at Gaara's throat. He leaned back to dodge the slash, even though his armor would have protected him, and immediately afterward they both hit the ground.

_Why does he always get to be on top? _Tenten asked herself, even with her kunai resting against his throat.

_Why do I enjoy being in this position? _Gaara asked himself, even with his katana resting against her throat.

He pulled his weapon away from her neck, giving her the opening she needed to press her own blade against his, rolling him over onto his back and straddling him. "I don't know why you hesitated, but it looks like I win," she grinned, with her heart pounding and lungs heaving.

"Not yet." The tip of a massive spear of black sand scratched the small of her back, causing her to force herself downward, flinching away from it on instinct. She blushed furiously at the implications of what she'd just done, since she was still pinning Gaara between her legs. "I removed my sword because I wanted to know just what part of this situation I found so enjoyable." Her blush darkened even further at that. "I know for certain, I don't want to kill you. It leaves me to wonder... what is this feeling you and I share? Does it have a name? Some way to describe why my heart is pounding in my throat..." he dropped his sword to grasp both of her arms, "...and why I don't want to let you get off of me?"

"D-Damn it, G-Gaara, you p-pervert," she stammered, blushing Hinata-red at this point. "You _pervert!_"

"What part of this situation is perverted?" he asked innocently.

"_This _part, damn it!" she lunged downward and mashed her lips against his, stealing both of their first kisses and holding it for several seconds. "Was..." she stopped and panted, "...was it really that hard to figure out?"

**Please Review!**


	22. Love and War: Naruto vs Hinata!

_Reviews this time came from Tequoia, zigmas, griffin blackwood, Legionary Prime, zigmas again, zigmas again, Rose Tiger, mmendoza688, Eliezerc, kingdom219, Penguin Lord0029, Ayrmed, Agrond, Pyrrhos, Dragon Man 180, Ricci419, YouAfraidYet, YouAfraidYet again, *That Guy,* Musical cake, Kayse, Kwisatz Haderach, Steam Powered Crow, *Guest,* *Guest,* and jose666. Thanks, everybody._

_Tequoia: Glad we sorted that out._

_zigmas: Maybe not to shame... more like there's a few unpleasant rumors floating around. xD_

_griffin blackwood: Why, thank you._

_Legionary Prime: Enjoyable originality is what I'm aiming for here, so I'm glad you think so, thanks._

_zigmas: Oh cool, you're rereading it!_

_zigmas: Yeah, it kinda varies, but on November 1, I wrote 3,767 words for this chapter. After that I slowed down a bit._

_Rose Tiger: Hn?_

_mmendoza688: Hn._

_Eliezerc: There's a very good reason I'm not giving Naruto a Sage Mode. It will become clear hopefully around the end of the Invasion Arc. As for those two jutsu, well, read on and see._

_*TL:* The Hidden Snow Village, to my knowledge, only appears in the first Naruto movie. Thus, not strictly canon, and I decided to make up an explanation for why they had a non-bloodline Ice Release. My conclusion was that it's actually just the Water Release being used on ice. That said, Hinata probably won't have wind as her second element. She'll mostly use water no matter what, but I'm leaning toward lightning as her next element. I'm open to suggestions, though._

_kingdom219: Okay._

_Penguin Lord0029: Imagine you've known someone, a sibling, for years who constantly threatens to kill you and has killed many people right in front of you. Out of nowhere, suddenly they stop that behavior entirely and start treating you like an older sibling. I know I'd be a little freaked out. _

_Ayrmed: Thanks, that's what I was going for._

_Agrond: Yes, that was a reference to canon Naruto and Sasuke._

_Pyrrhos: Ah, I see. Maybe they meant the Strength of a Hundred Seal? Anyway, thanks for your review._

_Dragon Man 180: __**Credit goes to Dragon Man 180 for the idea of Naruto working with Tenten on a new 'Ultimate Defense Seal.' **_

_Ricci419: I have updated the first chapter to clarify those errors, something I should have done quite a while ago._

_YouAfraidYet: Nope, still not afraid._

_YouAfraidYet (2): PM me and we can sort that out._

_*That Guy:* The adults, ie Jounin like Asuma, are also preparing for the invasion, offscreen. Initially, I'd intended for Team Eight as a whole to interact more onscreen, but I've consistently failed to make this happen, and I've been forced to acknowledge that Kiba and Asuma are not the main characters I wanted them to be. Hence, Gaara and Tenten are now listed in their place._

_Musical cake: They're getting there, Kankurou slightly more so than Temari. _

_Kayse: It rather amuses me too. I hope you continue to enjoy the story, and that the internet gods remain merciful._

_Kwisatz Haderach: I've finally dealt with the chapter 1 problem, you were the one who finally convinced me to do it._

_Steam Powered Crow: At midnight last night, I couldn't sleep and decided to check for new reviews. I found yours, Review #250, and immediately went to sleep with a massive grin on my face. True story._

_*Guest:* Hn._

_*Guest:* Dead!?_

_jose666: I don't write lemon. It's not that I object to such content, but I'm uncomfortable with writing it. No lemons will be appearing in this story._

X

"So... this is it."

Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, Temari, Kankurou, Tenten, Shikamaru, Chouji and Sasuke stood in the dead center of an arena specially designed for the Chuunin Exams, consisting of a grassy field surrounded by a forest, in turn surrounded by the audience. "We all know how important today is," Naruto continued, "and now that Chouji's been let in on it, we also know what _else _is gonna happen today."

"Hn." Sasuke shrugged. "If it wasn't for that, I'd still be training until the last possible second. Even as it stands, I'm gonna win this."

_Heh, good luck with that one, teme. Hina-chan's gonna destroy you, assuming you even get that far. _

"Whatever happens," Hinata suddenly spoke up, "Becoming a Chuunin is only one of the things we have to focus on. The other is surviving long enough to actually get promoted."

"What a drag."

"You're really depressing, you know that?" Temari shot back at him.

"He's got a bit of a point," Chouji threw in. "Today isn't gonna go well for us; we already know that. He's just pointing it out. But we can fight back. We can get through this, all of us."

_Weird bunch of Genin this year, _Genma observed silently. _It's almost like they think they're all going to... war... together... fuck, they know._

"Enough talk." Kiba cracked his knuckles. "Let's just go beat the crap out of each other."

"You do realize you're up against me in the first round, right?" Sasuke chuckled. "You're not gonna beat the crap out of anyone today."

"If you wanna talk about who's lined up to fight who, you're pretty screwed yourself." Tenten shrugged. "If you beat Kiba, then you either fight me, or someone who managed to beat me." She gestured to Kankurou, who smirked. "Plus he's from Suna, so you know next to nothing about his abilities. You know he fights with a weaponized puppet, but other than that, you've got nothing. And the only Genin here who knows anything about _my _new abilities, is me."

"Hn."

"That's a weak comeback."

"Hn."

Genma couldn't help but smirk at that. "All right, enough rousing speeches and trash talk. Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga. You two stay here, the rest of you take a seat and watch."

"Hey, wait. What happened to Hayate-sensei?" Naruto spoke up. "I thought he was the proctor for the third exam."

"You should know by now that he's been suffering from an unidentified disease for a long time... last week it rapidly worsened. He's bedridden and was unable to come here even as a spectator... the silver lining is that the disease is now responding to certain medical ninjutsu, where before it was completely unaffected. The way things are going, he'll live."

Naruto grinned. "That's a relief... all right! Hinata, you ready?"

She nodded. "Now that we're really here, I feel so much more than ready." she grinned back, and triggered her Byakugan. "Are _you _ready, Naruto-kun?"

"Begin," Genma declared, and frantically leapt out of the way of the two Genin, who immediately flew at each other. _These two... I don't know why, I can't explain how such a thing is even possible, but I can feel it. All of my instincts as a Special Jounin are telling me that there won't be much of an arena left, when these two are done._

To counter Hinata's Gentle Fist, Naruto unsealed the cutlass hidden in his ring, which put them on roughly the same level at close range. Every swing of Naruto's sword was dodged, and every thrust of Hinata's chakra-wreathed palms was slapped aside by the flat of his blade. "We're evenly matched like this," Hinata breathed, and leaned out of the way of Naruto's sword. "But this isn't where we can do the most damage. Water Release!"

"Oh crap." Naruto resealed his sword and began rapidly forming hand seals. "Earth Wall!"

"Hollow Water Dragon!" Hinata breathed out water instead of air, that rapidly took the form of its name and snarled. It slammed headfirst into Naruto's defense, and both jutsu were blown to bits.

_Okay, I've got an opening now. She'll need a moment to make more hand seals... _he formed a few rapid seals, and shouted, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" He breathed out a plume of vivid orange flames that crackled and roared as they touched the mist left over from her Hollow Water Dragon.

"Rasengan!" A ball of blue light tore through the mist and flames, scattering both as it flew toward Naruto, whose eyes widened. He swore under his breath, and brought his hands together as though holding a ball of similar size to her Rasengan. His chakra materialized into random swirls in the space between his palms, filling the space quickly enough that he was able to block her Rasengan with his own, destroying them both.

"What!?" Jiraiya stood up out of his seat, drawing a few odd looks from the foreign lords surrounding him. "I wanted to teach the kid that move!"

Naruto grinned. "Maybe you can help me finish it, Pervy Sage! I still need both hands to shape it right now!"

"Dammit, don't call me that in public!"

"Too late." Naruto turned his attention back to Hinata. "So, where were we?"

"Here! Water Release: Eight Trigrams, Guardian Sixty-Four Palms!"

Hiashi, Hanabi and Neji all watched with wide eyes as the first ever elemental Byakugan ninjutsu formed into a perfect transparent dome around Hinata. _She combined a Gentle Fist jutsu with her nature transformation... and not only that, but the jutsu she based this on was original as well! How could she have kept this much potential hidden from us... from me... for so long?_

Naruto grinned at Hinata through the wall of water, and formed a few quick hand seals. "Earth Release." Hinata froze as he sank into the ground, and before she could react his hand reemerged beneath her, to grasp her ankle and pull her into the ground as he rose up. "Headhunter Jutsu!"

He grinned, but paled when she grinned right back and the dome began to distort itself inward. "Now what?" she asked innocently. "Do you have an ultimate defense too?"

"Nope." Naruto resumed grinning, and dodged away from a blast of water and the chakra blades within. Instead, the blades sliced into the ground where he'd been standing, and precisely carved the earth around Hinata into loose chunks. With considerable effort, she managed to pull her arms up through the rocks and dirt.

"Wind Release: Erasing Wind!" Naruto expelled wind and chakra from his whole body in all directions, increasing the air pressure inside the dome to the point where it splashed and exploded outward, destabilized.

Hinata finished climbing out of the ground, dusted herself off, and glanced around. "I'll have to remember to open a hole in the barrier, the next time someone tries a jutsu like that. Thank you."

"Glad I could help," Naruto grinned. "Now... I'm finished warming up."

"Me too." she couldn't help but grin back. "Now, we can get serious."

"Guardian Sixty-Four Palms!" She rapidly shaped several arcs of chakra and whipped them at Naruto, who dodged a few, then countered with Shinra Tensei. "Hollow Water Dragon Horde!" she breathed out eight water dragons, and guided them to circle over her head as a combined flock, at the same time forming a complete dome of chakra blades around herself and applying the Water Release to complete the jutsu.

"Damn." Naruto unsealed his sword and laced it with wind chakra without using the Wind Blade. _If she does what I think she's gonna do... _he blinked in surprise and dodged several thrown kunai that shot through her water dome. _Kunai?_ He reached into his pouch and scattered a few of his own daggers around the arena. _Clever, Hina-chan. Setting the arena up for our Substitution trick. _He drew back his sword arm, and swung the weapon forward with a roar of "Wind Scar!"

Seven wind blades shot forward from the edge of Naruto's sword and slammed into Hinata's water dome. The Guardian Sixty-Four Palms distorted and rippled from the impact, but protected her and shed a cloud of mist kicked up by his attack. Inside the dome, she formed more hand seals and returned fire, directing four of her water dragons to attack him.

Naruto blinked out of existence just before the dragons would have slammed into him, and reappeared just outside the dome while the dragons tore a massive elongated strip out of the ground before exploding into a spray of mist. He tried to hack into the dome, but his sword merely scraped and skidded over it harmlessly. _Her chakra's made this thing as hard as a rock!_

Hinata guided the other four Hollow Water Dragons directly down on Naruto from above, but he dodged again with his 'flash step,' leaving the dragons to once again merely kick up a plume of mist, dirt and boulders. This time, however, it shot straight up like a geyser as the dragons tunneled viciously into the earth, awing the spectators.

Naruto, meanwhile, blinked into existence on the opposite side of the dome and sealed his cutlass to lay both hands on the wall of water. "_Shinra Tensei!_" he bellowed, and unleashed the power of the Deva Path.

Hinata Substituted with one of the kunai she'd thrown earlier, then watched from the outside as her ultimate defense was obliterated into a spray of water and chakra. "That's right," she murmured, "don't hold back anything at all." she threw another kunai directly at Naruto, then Substituted with it just before impact, aiming a Gentle Fist strike at his chest.

He dodged backward, just beyond the reach of her fingertips, then ducked a follow-up strike to slam his palms down on the ground. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

The ground beneath Hinata's feet dissolved into a soupy mess, into which she immediately sank up to her neck. "Naruto, what is-" she was cut off by her head sinking under the muck.

_Oh, shit I made it too deep! _"Hina-chan!" he screamed, and reached for her through the chakra-infused mud. "Banshou Tenin!"

The result was a massive wave of mud from his own jutsu hitting him in the face and throwing him back at least twelve feet. He frantically climbed back to his feet and looked around for Hinata, quickly spotting her where she'd Substituted with another kunai. Despite being covered from head to toe in mud as well, she was giggling at him. After a moment, she stopped and asked, "What kind of jutsu is this, anyway?"

"That, dear Hina-chan," he replied once his panic faded, "Is one of the two ultimate pranking ninjutsu, along with our own creation. Imagine, your target yawns and climbs out of bed, suspecting nothing. He sits up, swings his feet out of bed, and stands, immediately sinking up to his neck in chakra-infused mud like glue. It'll take the poor guy _hours _to climb out of it unless he has help, and hours more to wash himself off. A prank like that isn't something one does lightly," he finished in a lecturing, grandiose voice, "but should the situation call for it, nothing else compares."

"Huh. But... couldn't someone just Substitute out of it?"

"If they're a shinobi with a conveniently disposable object nearby, sure. But they'd still be in this situation," he gestured to the mud dripping off of them both.

"That's easy to deal with too." Hinata grinned, and spun, pulsing her chakra from all of her tenketsu. "Revolving Heaven!" she cried, scattering the mud and leaving herself almost completely clean. "Now, what's your plan?"

"You learned the Revolving Heaven? Cool!"

"You haven't seen anything yet," she replied. "Just wait until I manage to combine it with my Guardian Sixty-Four Palms!"

Naruto grinned, nodded, and called, "Erasing Wind," cleaning himself off as well. "Damn... this jutsu is looking less and less effective every second. Plus, I made it too deep and nearly killed you."

"You didn't make it too deep," Hinata replied, giggling again, "I just crouched down so my head went under too, since I knew you'd try to pull me back out, and... do that to yourself by accident." she pointed to the spray of earthy sludge scattered around Naruto. "I was going to surprise attack you when you were down, but I just started laughing, and..." she trailed off, and shrugged. "Now we're here."

"Yeah... now we're here." he unsealed his cutlass, and blurred forward by pulsing chakra into his legs and sprinting at Hinata.

Her eyes widened, and she whirled into another Revolving Heaven to intercept his strike, but it never came. Instead, Naruto came to a stop just outside the wall of chakra, and poured Earth Release chakra into the sword before swinging it horizontally at the dome. The reinforcing properties of the earth chakra kept the sword from chipping and cracking from the impact of Hinata's chakra grinding against it.

After several seconds, Hinata had to cease her defense, allowing Naruto's blade to suddenly swing forward. "Wind Scar!" he called, taking advantage of the brief lapse in her defenses. Three blunted wind blades slammed into her, sending her flying, but after a groan and a brief pause, she climbed back to her feet. "You okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine," she replied. "It'll take a lot more than this to take me down, don't hold anything back!" she started forming more chakra blades around her with the Guardian Sixty-Four Palms. "And I promise, I won't!"

"Right!" he sealed his cutlass again to form a Rasengan with both hands, then pulled his left hand away when the jutsu was complete. Hinata finished forming her water-chakra dome, and Naruto lunged forward to attack it with his Rasengan.

Just before Naruto's attack struck home, however, the barrier of water turned solid, white and opaque. His Rasengan gave off a loud screeching as it ground against the wall of newly formed ice, then dissipated leaving only a small crater in the ice. The top of the ice dome shattered to allow a Hollow Water Dragon to soar out of it, then it reformed after the dragon passed completely through. It hovered above the dome, growling at Naruto, then solidified into white ice as well. It cracked as it coiled to attack him, and the pieces grated against each other.

Naruto blinked up at it. "Damn." _Times like this, I wish I had an ultimate defense. _"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!" he shouted desperately, and punched upward at the dragon to let fly a swirling ball of wind which struck the belly of the dragon. It cracked a little, then cast an unimpressed look down at Naruto, who swore and turned to run away.

It followed with a roar, and Naruto turned once he was a solid distance away from it. "Earth Release: Earth Wall! Earth Wall, _Earth Wall_!" The dragon tore through the first two walls, but shattered as it struck the third wall. Unfortunately for Naruto, the third wall exploded into pieces along with it, and together the chunks of earth and ice slammed into him.

Hinata's ice barrier crumbled into pieces, and she emerged, panting. Naruto crawled up out of the rubble of both his and her jutsu, badly bruised and likewise out of breath. "How did you get out of that?" she breathed.

"I used Shinra Tensei to form a sphere around myself, kinda like the Revolving Heaven," Naruto replied, and wiped some blood from his lip. "It didn't entirely work, though. I'm pretty beat up from all of this." he gestured to the mound of rock and ice he stood on. "I've only got a few tricks left, what about you, Hina-chan?"

"Same here," she panted, "but I think it's about time I used my secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?" he repeated, then groaned. "How bad is this gonna hurt?"

"I honestly have no idea. I've never used it in battle before, and... well, see for yourself." she reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a small black flask.

"What... is that?" Naruto asked, suddenly filled with a sense of dread.

"Unusually strong sake," Hinata replied, and uncorked the bottle. "Naruto-kun, please make sure I don't do anything I'll regret too much," she pleaded, then gulped down the contents of the flask.

Hiashi began shivering uncontrollably. Neji glanced up at his uncle with confusion. "What's wrong, Hiashi-sama?"

"Hinata has had sake only once before in her life, as far as I know." Hiashi triggered his Byakugan and made sure he was ready to perform the Body Flicker at a moment's notice. "It was at a birthday celebration in my name, a few years ago."

"And? What happened?" Neji asked expectantly.

"She... she started giggling."

In the arena below, Hinata started giggling.

"After that, it was hell on earth," Hiashi shuddered. "I'm grateful I can only remember a few brief moments of it."

Hinata kept giggling, and a deep red blush spread over her cheeks. "Naruto-kun... you're cute when you're terrified." she lunged forward at a speed that rivaled the Body Flicker, then tripped and landed facefirst in front of Naruto. "Ow." She climbed back to her feet in a blur, and he unsealed his cutlass once again to counter a few Gentle Fist jabs.

Out of nowhere, she completely dropped all pretense of taijutsu use, and headbutted Naruto who stumbled back several feet. "Ow." she giggled again. "Um... Naruto-kun, why are we fighting, anyway?"

"Ugh..." he clutched his bruising forehead. "C-Chuunin Exams, remember?"

"Oh, right!" she gave a sickeningly cheerful grin. "Come on then! You've got thirty seconds to land a hit on me before I use _that _jutsu!" she stalked forward with her arms raised loosely in a halfhearted Gentle Fist stance.

Naruto paled. "By... 'that jutsu,' you don't mean...?"

"Mhm! The nosebleed one!"

"Oh, Kami. Not here, not in public, Hina-chan! You said to stop you from doing anything you'd regret, remember? Well your dad and your little sister are right there!" he pointed to Hiashi and Hanabi in the audience. "Don't do it!"

"Oh, don't worry. I can use the Hidden Mist Jutsu to keep them from seeing anything, and leave a pocket of clear air in here for us, watch! Hidden Mist Jutsu!" she called cheerfully. True to her word, a cloud of fog cut off the view of the spectators. "The clock starts now! Twenty-nine, twenty-eight..."

With no other choice, Naruto unsealed his sword again and lunged at Hinata_, _only to watch in total disbelief as she dodged each strike in increasingly inconceivable ways. After a dozen swings that she dodged merely by stumbling, she started Substituting randomly around the arena, sprinting toward Naruto, occasionally falling flat on her face before resuming her approach, only to Substitute again as soon as she reached him.

This went on for significantly longer than thirty seconds, and only stopped when Hinata ran headlong into the sinkhole Naruto had created with his Swamp of the Underworld. She blinked a few times, struggled briefly in an attempt to free her arms, then simply stuck out her tongue and said "Bleehhh... slimy."

"Hina-chan, can you _please _go back to making sense!?" he ran toward the sinkhole with sword in hand.

"Okay, sure!" she grinned at him, still trying to squirm out of the chakra-infused mud that was specially made to prevent the victim's escape. "Just stand still for three and one-quarter seconds, and everything will make sense again."

"...Huh?" Naruto blinked, and stopped approaching her. Big mistake.

"Substitution."

"Wha!?" Naruto's eyes widened as she switched places with him, trapping him in his own jutsu. He, of course, quickly Substituted back out of the ground via one of the kunai scattered on the ground, namely one at Hinata's feet. The moment he reappeared in front of her, he already had his sword arm pulled back to slash at her. _I don't know what's going on here, but I've gotta snap her out of this!_

Hinata leaned back out of the way of his blade, then raised her right arm and flicked a glob of mud into his face.

"Gah!" he stepped back away from her and tried to wipe the mud onto his left sleeve, but with his eyes covered by both the earth and his arm, he was wide open to a taijutsu combo from Hinata that sent him to the ground.

"Okay... um, I think it's been thirty seconds," Hinata decided once Naruto had wiped the mud from his eyes. "You know what that means!"

"Hina-chan, no!"

"Revolving Heaven." She disappeared inside a dome of swirling chakra, and when the dome faded away, her Sexy Jutsu counterpart was wearing nothing but a mischievous, Naruto-esque grin and a few strategically-placed wisps of smoke. Naruto's nose promptly gushed blood and he passed out. "Alright!" a cloud of smoke poofed up around her, and her clothes, once again clean, reappeared. "I've had my fun, time to go back to sanity!" She drew a kunai from her weapons pouch and nicked her left index finger with it to rapidly sober herself up.

"Ugh... something tells me that was a really bad idea," she groaned, then spotted Naruto and the 'damage' done to him. "Oh Kami, please tell me I didn't..."

"You did," he confirmed, having regained consciousness only a moment before. "You're shameless when you're drunk, ya know."

"I'm a _lot _of things when I'm drunk," she replied. "Remind me never to do that again."

"I promise," he answered solemnly and sat up. "Uh... you knocked me out for a second there. Does that mean you win?"

Hinata shook her head, and made a hand seal to dismiss the fog from the Hidden Mist Jutsu. "You can still fight, so I haven't beaten you. Besides, I'd hate to win like that."

Naruto stood, and clasped his hands together in the Tiger hand seal. "Okay... well, I still haven't used a lightning or water jutsu, and I was hoping to go through all five elements today, so let's keep going!" his hands blurred for a moment, coming to a stop on the Snake seal. "Water Release: Water Bullet!"

"Water Wall." Hinata raised a three-foot-thick barrier of water that absorbed Naruto's attack with a dull splashing sound. "Naruto, you'll _never _hit me with a Water Release jutsu," she informed him with brutal honesty.

"I know. Lightning Release: Lightning Bolt!" he jabbed forward with an open right hand, reminiscent of a Gentle Fist move until an arc of lightning shot forth from his fingertips into Hinata's Water wall, lighting the structure up with surging, crackling lightning. Hinata yelped and covered her eyes, stumbling back away from the Water Wall as it collapsed.

_He used the Water Bullet, just so I'd counter with either a Water Wall or my Guardian Sixty-Four Palms! He was planning to use that lightning to blind me! _Hinata instinctively leapt backward away from Naruto, stumbling on a chunk of ice as she landed twenty feet away. She managed to keep her balance, and formed her Water Release: Guardian Sixty-Four Palms faster than she ever had before. She turned her back to where she assumed Naruto was, to use the Byakugan's vision where it wasn't still blinded.

Naruto, meanwhile, remained where he was when he fired his sole lightning jutsu, a C-rank technique that rarely killed its target even with a direct hit. Konoha's jutsu libraries had next to nothing on lightning-based jutsu, and nothing at all in terms of powerful lightning jutsu, with the exception of Kakashi Hatake's Chidori and Raikiri, which he'd never written down instructions for.

_Quit your complaining, _Kurama growled. _It served its purpose well enough, now focus on your battle!_

Naruto blinked, shook away his brief daydream of learning the Raikiri, and resumed making hand seals. "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!" Hinata watched Naruto's strongest wind jutsu approach her ultimate defense, then her eyes widened when her Byakugan showed her Naruto blinking out of existence behind his attack. "Drilling Air Bullet!" he called again, firing another blast of wind with his right fist, this time in front of Hinata where she was still blind.

_He's moving faster than his own attacks? _She instinctively turned to the sound of Naruto's voice calling the name of his jutsu again, this time to her left, then her right, all before the first Drilling Air Bullet behind her struck. _My defense won't hold up to four of these at once... Come on, think! _Hinata panicked, but just before the attacks hit, she came up with an idea.

Naruto came to a stop, panting heavily and clutching his side. _Even for me, four Drilling Air Bullets rapid-fired like that, after everything else... I'm almost done. _He watched the dust and mist around Hinata dissipate to reveal a small but thick cocoon of ice, which cracked and fell apart. She emerged from within, just as winded as he was, and called, "This can't go on for much longer." she formed a Rasengan with what remained of her chakra. "Let's just finish it right now."

He nodded, and formed a Rasengan of his own with both hands. "Sounds good to me."

The two lovers sprinted at each other with their most powerful jutsu in each of their right hands. The two Rasengan struck each other, and for a moment, both of them simply grated against each other, but then, something strange happened. The two Rasengan reacted to each other, and grew, engulfing both Naruto and Hinata in a massive ball of white chakra easily thirty feet across.

The two blinked and looked around at the pure white light around them. "...What is this?" Naruto voiced the obvious question.

"So bright..." Hinata breathed, then glanced at her right hand. Both Naruto's Rasengan and her own had vanished, leaving their right hands to only hold each other's. "Naruto-kun... it's still not over..." she drew back her free left hand, and shaped a second Rasengan with it.

Naruto reached behind his back to draw out a Flying Raijin kunai. "Not yet."

"Rasengan." she reached forward with the jutsu of the Fourth Hokage, but Naruto caught it on the blade of the Fourth's kunai. Slowly, the Rasengan began to grind through the kunai, but before it could reach Naruto, she felt the jutsu weakening, and she gasped. _I'm... out of chakra, aren't I? _The Rasengan faded away into scattered wisps of chakra. "D-Damn it, I..."

"Won." Hinata weakly blinked. "You won, Hinata-chan. Proctor!" he called through the sphere of light. "I forfeit the match! Hinata beat me."

"...I won?"

Naruto nodded, dimly realizing that the white light around them was fading slowly. "Told you. You're stronger than you've ever given yourself credit for, Hina-chan... and now seems like a really good time to mention that I love you, ya know?"

"Naruto-kun... Aishiteru," she answered with a grin.

Naruto grinned back, and stole a quick kiss. "Now... kick all of their asses, Hinata."

"Mhm." Hinata nodded. "I promise."

Without warning, the white light around them vanished completely. "Naruto Uzumaki has ceded the match; Hinata Hyuuga advances to the next round," Genma proclaimed, still nervously chewing the senbon between his teeth. He watched in disbelief along with the rest of the spectators, as the secret lovers each produced a bright blue pill and swallowed them.

_Soldier pills!? They could've taken those during the match and kept fighting! _Genma chomped down on the senbon, hard. _If I'm honest with myself, I'm glad they didn't. I can still feel it in my whole body, that if these two really wanted to... they could destroy this whole arena. I can feel how lucky we are that they didn't._

Naruto and Hinata both gasped as their chakra reserves skyrocketed back to almost full. "Whoa," Naruto breathed. _Mizuki wasn't kidding, these blue pills are WAY stronger than Konoha's brown ones!_

"Such talent you have in these children, Hokage-dono." Orochimaru grinned behind the Kazekage's mask. "I look forward to seeing what the others can do... the Uchiha boy in particular..."

"You do realize I know exactly who you are under that mask, right?" The Third asked, and Orochimaru nodded. "I can only make this offer once, to honor the years we shared as student and teacher. Call off your invasion, and I'll let you leave Konoha unharmed."

The Kazekage laughed harshly. "You really have gone senile! Sarutobi-sensei," he hissed, "You're _going _to die today."

"I'm ready for that fate," The Hokage replied, and reached into his pocket to touch a small white scroll marked in red with the kanji for fire. "Completely ready. But are you?"

"I don't have to be. I'm going to live forever," Orochimaru replied bluntly.

"When is the invasion set to begin?" Gaara demanded halfheartedly while staring down at his brother and his girlfriend about to meet in the arena.

"Oh, not for a while yet, but I won't give you the exact time for obvious reasons. I want to at least see the first round of this tournament finished, to see if any other Genin here might make suitable recruits."

"That's a bad move."

"Oh?" Orochimaru glanced at the Jinchuuriki with vague interest. "What makes you say that?"

"They're under my protection." Gaara turned to the Sannin with his arms folded and hate in his eyes. "If you lay a finger on them, I'll kill you."

"...I see. And what does your 'mother' have to say about that?" Orochimaru asked, recalling Gaara's outburst in the Forest of Death.

Gaara remained silent for several seconds, then finally spoke. "Shukaku was rather long-winded and crude about it, but in essence he wants you to know that anyone who interferes with my own goals and desires will, and I quote, 'be fed their own internal organs one by one.' Since he listed the spleen first and heart last, I assume he intends for me to feed them to you roughly in increasing order of importance." he paused. "He insists I also mention 'throwing this freak into the sun,' but I fail to see how he could manage that."

_Dammit fleshbag, let me have my fun._

_Neither one of us has yet fulfilled our end of the agreed-upon contract. Until that happens, you and I are neither allies nor friends. So I certainly won't 'let you have your fun,' not when it involves me repeating the sort of things you said just now... even if I agree with them wholeheartedly. _

_You were more fun when you were insane._

_Of course you would think so. I was your plaything, after all. _He glanced back down to the arena, where Tenten and Kankurou were about to begin their match.

_So who are you rooting for, kid? Your girl, or your brother? _

_I don't see any need to make a choice. They're both strong enough to earn a Chuunin promotion, so it's completely irrelevant who wins this match. Though, to be honest, I predict Tenten as the winner._

"Begin!" Genma called loudly, and Kankurou deployed his puppet immediately. Tenten drew a scroll out of her pouch and unfurled it to throw a barrage of assorted weapons she unsealed from within. Crow and Kankurou both dodged the weapons easily, and Kankurou retreated backward as he simultaneously directed Crow to attack Tenten. Blades extended from all four of the puppet's arms and slashed at Tenten, who dodged and retreated away from the construct.

_He can move this thing pretty quickly, _she noted and twisted out of the way of another attack, then ducked a purple smoke bomb that exploded at a safe distance behind her, releasing a cloud of poison. _His dexterity with it is great too; he can control multiple weapons at the same time he's moving the puppet. It's almost like he's controlling his own body, not a machine. _

She unsealed a jian from her collection and hacked off Crow's head in a single fluid movement, or so it seemed. She quickly realized the head had simply detached itself just before her blow struck, meaning it could reattach with no difficulty.

_She's fast enough to dodge Crow's melee weapons, _Kankurou frowned, but kept pressing his assault. _I can deploy a few projectile attacks if it comes to that, but it'd be best if I just tire her out. That way, neither of us is injured, and we can fight off plenty of Oto shinobi when the time comes. _

Tenten dodged another few strikes from Crow's arm blades, and halfheartedly countered with her jian, chasing Crow back a short distance. _This guy is Gaara's brother. I can't just destroy his favorite weapon so soon before a huge battle. If I can find some way to isolate this puppet from Kankurou's chakra strings... an Earth Release ninjutsu to contain it would be ideal, but I only have the Fire Release affinity, and I barely use that anyway... _her thoughts were abruptly cut off by Crow firing several poisoned senbon at her. She pulsed her chakra into the fuinjutsu on her armor at the last second, deflecting the senbon harmlessly.

"What the hell is that?" Kankurou asked, wide-eyed.

"Barrier ninjutsu," she replied, and the layer of translucent energy over her body vanished. "Come on. I wouldn't willingly put on an outfit like this if it wasn't meant to save my life, and this is just a prototype anyway. Once I have the design completely finished, I'm gonna make 'em available to the whole village alongside conventional flak jackets."

Naruto leaned forward with interest from where he was sitting in the crowd. _She wrote a seal to trigger a barrier ninjutsu without hand seals, and even more impressive, she's shaped the barrier to fit a human body. It's even flexible; she can move around in it! And... she's being responsible about it, too. Rather than keeping it active and draining her chakra with it, she triggers it only when she can't dodge or conventionally block an attack. _"That's brilliant," he mumbled to himself.

"Hm?" Hinata turned to face him. "What is?"

"That armor Tenten's wearing." he pointed. "She managed to create that fuinjutsu by herself, without anything to base it on except generic Konoha seal script. If she had access to the Uzumaki Clan's fuinjutsu library... I gotta be honest, most of the stuff in there goes way over my head, like the Flying Raijin for instance, but if I gave _her _access to it..." he watched Tenten counter a barrage of poisoned kunai with her sealed armor, and his interest continued to grow. "If she uses Uzumaki-style fuinjutsu to create a new version of that armor..."

"Ah..." Hinata nodded, and recalled, "The Uzumaki were the greatest fuinjutsu masters ever, and they had their own complex script they used to write their seals, and if Tenten had access to it, she could write a better version of the seal."

_Those seals were strong enough to perfectly contain the Nine-Tails, for instance, _Kurama threw in. _Uzumaki seals are inherently better written than any other style of fuinjutsu, because of that script. Every rune is more precise in its effects, yet can also do more as a component of the whole. _

Meanwhile, Tenten caught sight of a four-foot-wide sinkhole filled with chakra-infused mud, designed specifically to ensnare and imprison whatever fell in... or was thrown in. _He's gonna hate me for this, _she noted sadly. _But... it can't be helped. This is the best way for me to neutralize his puppet without damaging it, and if he cleans it off before the invasion, it should be in working condition. The weapon I made for him... I'd like to think it suits him well, but he's had next to no experience with it, and the same goes for Temari, so they both might just use the weapons they already had. That makes it even more important that I don't break his puppet. _

She reached into her pouch, pulling out a scroll and unsealing two weapons from within. One was a simple shuriken, if odd in that it had six thin blades that were rather dull compared to the usual four-bladed variety. The other was a jian, which struck Kankurou as unusual since she was already wielding one. However, she quickly sealed that first sword in place of the new one, and returned the scroll to her pouch.

"This," she held up the longsword, "Is my favorite sword, in case you're wondering. There's nothing really special about it, other than the fact that I've never made a sword I like better. I guess the balance on it's a little better, and the grip feels nicer in my hand." True to her word, the weapon was rather plain, with a handle of unidentifiable hardwood and a guard and pommel of smooth brass. The blade was likewise unadorned steel. Even the vibrant blue silk tassel that hung from the pommel and extended for two feet was normal for a jian.

"So, why switch to that sword if nothing's special about it?" Kankurou asked with eyebrows raised. "Does the fact that you're using your favorite weapon somehow signify that you're about to step it up a notch?"

_He definitely reads shounen manga, _she decided. "Nope. I'm just gonna need every edge I can get, if I'm gonna make this plan work." _And for what it's worth, I'm throwing my own favorite weapon into that gunk too. Maybe that'll keep you from going completely nuts on me._

"Huh." Kankurou shrugged, and sent Crow to attack her again with the blades on its four arms extended, hoping to catch her off-guard with the sudden close-range attack after several projectile attacks. Tenten, however, pulsed her chakra into the seal on her shuriken and threw it at Crow. Since such a weapon would do no damage to his puppet, Kankurou didn't bother making it dodge, and instead let the throwing star hit Crow in the forehead.

Unfortunately for him, the seal was intended to be unlocked by the user's chakra, then release its payload upon impact. Its payload happened to be a massive cloud of white smoke that obscured Crow, Tenten, and the sinkhole left behind by Naruto's Swamp of the Underworld. She then lunged forward, closing the remaining distance between herself and Crow to stab her jian into the puppet's abdomen. The damage to a body without organs, blood, or the capacity for pain was negligible, but it got the desired result of Kankurou feeling the impact and sudden shift in his puppet's weight.

As Crow began flailing blindly and preparing several ranged attacks, Tenten let go of her sword and jumped away from the puppet with her barrier armor already turned on. Having memorized the location of the sinkhole, she leapt backward and focused chakra into her feet to stand on it as though it were water.

Naruto's chakra still laced the soft earth, however, and interfered with hers slightly. Her feet sank several inches into the mud before stabilizing. _Kami, that feels absolutely disgusting, _she noted with a grimace. _How did those two stand being covered in it up to their necks? Ugh... _

She shook away the thoughts and ignored the squishy feeling under and around her feet, then pulled out and threw a special sealed tag in the general direction of Crow. She watched with satisfaction as it exploded with light; a flashbang tag. The light illuminated Crow's silhouette through the smoke for long enough for her to lock on with her jutsu and cry, "Substitution!"

Kankurou sharply drew in a breath as he felt his chakra strings detach from Crow and connect with a body that was currently moving. He knew it was possible to control a living human with chakra strings, but only if they didn't resist, and Tenten surely would. That meant that until the smoke cleared, he would be defenseless with no way to reattach himself to Crow. "Damn it."

He was, however, mistaken in his guess that Tenten intended to attack him before that happened. Instead, she emerged slowly from the cloud of smoke, with her hands raised to show she was unarmed. "I didn't damage it, don't worry, I just cut it off from you-"

"What the hell did you do to Crow!?" Kankurou shrieked, now much more concerned for his puppet's safety than his own.

"I... buried him," she admitted, and behind her the cloud of smoke faded slowly. Sure enough, Crow was nowhere in sight. Kankurou's eyes flickered over the scene with increasing worry, until he spotted the mud on Tenten's soles and the upward bulge on top of the previously flat Swamp of the Underworld. "I'm telling you though, he's totally fine! Just surrender and we can get someone to dig him out!"

"...'Dig him out'..." Kankurou repeated with a growl. "You actually threw him into that crap..."

"Well what was I supposed to do? Break it? That thing's your favorite weapon, and Gaara said you cared for it like it was your pet or something! What _else _could I have done?"

The puppeteer blinked, several times, and his scowl slowly faded along with his killing intent. _She's got a point, _said a small, reluctant voice at the back of his mind. _It'll take me a while to wash Crow off after... that, _he added disdainfully with a glare toward the mud currently engulfing his prized puppet, _but that's nothing compared to the time it would take to repair or completely rebuild him._

"...Fine. I forfeit, damn it."

Genma nodded. "Tenten advances to the next round by way of forfeit," he called to the audience.

"Hm... she's clever," Orochimaru noted. "She intended specifically to avoid damaging the boy or his weaponry, likely knowing about the imminent invasion..."

"Which will earn her a Chuunin promotion, beyond any doubt," the Hokage replied.

"There won't be anyone left to promote her, in fact she'll probably die as well. In just a few hours..." Orochimaru giggled sadistically.

"She'll be fine," Gaara observed. "But I must ask... threatening her like that, in front of me... are you _eager _to die?"

"Don't presume to threaten me," Orochimaru said offhandedly. "It was amusing at first, but it gets old."

"I wasn't threatening you." Gaara turned to face the Sannin with a blank, emotionless face. "I'm simply curious. Threatening Tenten in front of me implies you want to die, immediately and painfully. I can't think of any other reason why you would, so I'm asking."

Orochimaru remained silent for a moment, then it clicked. "...Ah, so you're close to her, then. Romantically or otherwise. I take it back, this is still a very amusing subject!" he grinned, and set to work dissecting Gaara's emotions. "I can't kill you, since I need to trade you to the Akatsuki, but I can certainly drive you even further insane than you already are. How would you react if I told you I intend to kill her in front of you?"

He was immediately hit with a wave of killing intent unlike anything a normal human could generate. By itself, the feeling was significantly less intense than what he could radiate, but Gaara's killing intent brought with it a series of emotions and concepts, some of which were beyond the comprehension of a human and thus had to be from Shukaku. The Sannin's head began to pound from those thoughts bombarding him, and he hesitantly clutched it, letting out a weak groan. _What... is this...? _

Gaara spoke then, and his voice echoed and resonated. The sound of Jinchuuriki and Bijuu speaking in perfect stereo was horrifying. **"Tenten will not be harmed." **Orochimaru visibly recoiled from Gaara, as the killing intent was multiplied tenfold. Even the Hokage and the ANBU in the room began to feel the intent indirectly, and paled. **"You, however, are going to die."**

Then, the killing intent cut off completely, and Gaara turned back to the arena. A moment later, Naruto blurred into existence next to his fellow Jinchuuriki, and asked quietly, "What was that?"

"He threatened Tenten. I showed him how unwise his course of action was."

"I heard that much. I mean, what _was _it?"

"Killing intent," Gaara replied simply.

"How long have you been able to do that? Kurama says he could feel Shukaku's killing intent mixing with yours."

"This was the first time. Suffice to say, Shukaku and I have come to an agreement. One of the more important terms of our contract requires him to help me in defense of Tenten, no matter the other circumstances or his feelings on the matter."

"How'd you get him to agree to that?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"...I offered him... something."

"Uh..." he blinked a few times. "Gaara, that's a little bit vague, ya know?"

"Yes, it is." the Sand Waterfall turned his attention back to the arena, and refused to elaborate further. Temari and Shikamaru stood opposing each other in the arena.

**Please Review!**


	23. Fight Fire With Fire: Kiba vs Sasuke!

_Shikamaru vs Temari would have played out exactly, or almost exactly, like in canon, so I decided to skip it. Not enough circumstances had been changed for the two characters involved to change the outcome. Also, like with Sakura vs Ino, it seemed too important to their character development for me to change their match._

_For approximately twenty-four hours I had changed my pen name. However, I changed it back because I've been BlueWolf1923 since I came here in March 2011 and it felt wrong to change my name after so long._

_Much more importantly, I'd like to apologize for how late this chapter is. The Sasuke vs. Kiba fight didn't come to me easily, and I really didn't want to jump right into the second round of the tournament right away. However, that left the problem that what I had after Sasuke vs. Kiba was only half as long as my average chapter, and that just wouldn't do. I didn't want to write another fight into this chapter, and I also didn't want three thousand plus words of boring filler. I hope that the solution I came up with is at least satisfactory._

_Thanks to Rose Tiger, Ayrmed, Agrond, Steam Powered Crow, *TL,* Eliezerc, zigmas, Kayse, New to Naruto, griffin blackwood, NotAGunForHire, YouAfraidYet, Yana5, Musical cake, *That Guy,* Dragon Man 180, meowy1986, Keiren-Kun89, Shizuka Taiyou twice, Lovelychibi7, two *Guests,* and Setsuna no Solaris for reviews_

_You guys have given me twenty-four reviews since I posted the last chapter, and I'm thankful for every single one. If you do that again, we'll reach three hundred reviews before the next update, so please do. _

_Rose Tiger: I intend to._

_Ayrmed: Thanks, glad you think so. _

_Agrond: Orochimaru did change his plan. It just looks like he hasn't._

_Steam Powered Crow: Naruto actually knows Kiri's version of the Pulse Step Jutsu Mizuki was using. I can't promise when Gaara and Shukaku will reveal what they've been planning, but it will be in Part I._

_*TL:* Kankurou got the worst possible matchup by fighting Tenten. She knows what his new weapon is because she made it herself, and can counter it. Like you said, he also wants to keep his new weapon as a surprise for the invasion. _

_Eliezerc: I'm still on the fence about giving Naruto shadow clones. At this rate it'd be like giving Ichigo kidou._

_zigmas: I hoped somebody would say that. _

_Kayse: Thanks._

_New to Naruto: "Bijuu don't buy souls." - Asuma Sarutobi in chapter 2. Thank you for letting me reuse that line._

_griffin blackwood: Thanks._

_NotAGunForHire: Both Orochimaru and Sarutobi are waiting to attack each other until their armies are fully in place and prepared to attack. They're each betting that their army can get ready faster than the other's. Sarutobi also wants the Chuunin Exam to end before the invasion begins._

_YouAfraidYet: I cannot answer those questions without giving away huge spoilers. _

_Yana5: You're welcome, and thank you._

_Musical cake: Henceforth I will put the chapter title in the summary, thank you for the idea._

_*That Guy:* Ah, good point. My depiction of that jutsu was incorrect and thank you for pointing it out. It has since been fixed. _

_Dragon Man 180: Funny you should mention that barrier..._

_meowy1986: My knowledge of Part II canon is limited, but to my understanding Naruto's chakra control has vastly improved. Personally, I'm of the opinion that learning to water-walk or even just tree-walk has given canon Naruto the requisite chakra control to make a clone, but he's never wanted or needed to go back and learn the Clone Jutsu._

_Keiren-Kun89: Ah... to be quite honest, I'd read so many fanfics that include such an event that I thought it happened in canon in some capacity. _

_Shizuka Taiyou (1): Ah, Zabuza and Haku... I wonder how many people saw that coming, and how many didn't._

_Shizuka Taiyou (2): Likewise._

_Lovelychibi: Yay, finally some questions I can answer!_

_A) Yes. I cannot confirm when, but if, yes._

_B) I changed my mind. Yes, I initially decided Gaara shouldn't be in a relationship pre-timeskip, but since you guys wanted me to do it and I wanted to do it, I did it._

_C) Spur of the moment, really. Their first interaction when Tenten fought Dosu wasn't supposed to imply or build up to romance, but as I was writing the next chapter, and their interactions there, I decided out of nowhere 'this is a pairing now.' I ran with it, and here we are. I liked it because they never really met in canon, which means I get to be more original with it. _

_D) There are a lot of characters I haven't really had the chance to write. Some of them, like Shino, Kiba, Kakashi, I'm actually quite fond of, but the story revolves around a central cast of characters like Naruto, Hinata, Gaara and Tenten. If one or more of the main cast isn't involved in a scene, it usually feels forced and boring when I write it. Not something worth reading, and certainly not doing justice to the involved characters._

_E) Tenten has the Fire Release, and her secondary is Earth Release, although she doesn't know that. Sakura has Earth Release first, then Water Release. _

_Thank you for reviewing._

_*Guest:* Naruto and Sasuke haven't interacted enough to be called rivals, yet._

_*Guest:* I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I really am. _

_Setsuna no Solaris: Sorry to keep you all waiting._

X

"Ah... I've been looking forward to this," Orochimaru murmured, leaning forward intently.

Sasuke Uchiha, as per usual, was exuding a faint aura of chakra similar to killing intent that, rather than outright intimidating his opponent, informed them that he was thinking something along the lines of _I really don't care about you, but since I'm here I might as well beat you into the ground. _This aura, a specialty of his, was combined with the fact that his hands were in his pockets and he wasn't even bothering to look at Kiba.

Instead, his whirling two-tomoe Sharingan eyes betrayed his real emotions, killing intent and hatred aimed at Orochimaru under his guise as the Kazekage. Sasuke could actually _feel _how desperately his Sharingan wanted to evolve, how near it was to developing a third tomoe, but it wasn't enough. He'd failed to complete his doujutsu, even with a month of training it in battle against Kakashi, and that meant he wouldn't have it for either the exam or the invasion.

"Oi. Sasuke."

The Uchiha scion snapped his attention back to Kiba, just barely managing to sculpt his features into the typical condescending Uchiha look of nonchalance, instead of the furious glare he'd tried to intimidate Orochimaru with. He had an image to maintain, after all. "Hn?"

Kiba smirked at him, and Sasuke noted respectfully that he was imitating, rather well in fact, the Uchiha mask of superiority. It was, however, just an imitation. An admirable attempt, to be sure, but Sasuke was convinced that the expression could only be managed by an Uchiha, whether because it only looked properly badass with an active Sharingan, or because the look itself was a part of the Uchiha bloodline.

"How long do you think you can keep up with me?" Kiba asked.

Sasuke chuckled dryly. This mannerism was likewise practiced and rehearsed until he had it perfected. He closed his eyes for a moment, then aimed his deactivated Sharingan at Kiba to conserve power. _Kiba does have a good point. Most of the jutsu I learned from Kakashi-sensei burn through my chakra quickly. I can only fight at full power for about five minutes. _"Long enough."

"Perfect." Kiba's calm mask shattered into an excited grin. "That's perfect! See, I haven't done _nearly _as much as Naruto and Hinata in the past few months. For Kami's sake, Naruto ripped a guy's _soul _out a few weeks ago! And what have I been doing?" he laughed. "Training. You don't get bragging rights and infamy by just training. You need to show how strong you've gotten, and I've had _no _chances to do that. That's why people think of Team Eight as the Hokage's son, the heir of the Sage of Six Paths, the Hyuuga with the strongest Water Release in Konoha, and... the guy with the cute dog."

"Bitter, are we?"

"Nope." Kiba grinned even broader. "I'm not gonna deny what Naruto and Hinata have done is freaking _awesome_, so what I'm saying is that I need to start doing awesome stuff too. Call it, proctor."

"Begin."

Kiba promptly exploded into a cloud of black smoke. Sasuke's inactive eyes widened. _I didn't see it happen with my Sharingan, damn it... _he clasped his hands together in the Tiger seal. _It could have been some kind of elemental clone dispelling, but I've seen records of fire clones in the Uchiha libraries. Hand seals forgotten, jutsu sealed away as kinjutsu anyway, since it's absurdly dangerous to learn, and it doesn't explode into smoke like this. _

_More importantly, he'd be disqualified if he didn't actually enter the arena, or more exactly, if he was outside it once the match started. Whatever this is, it's not a clone jutsu dispelling. He's in that cloud of smoke. _"Sharingan!"

Sasuke stepped back, wide-eyed. _It's laced with his chakra... but I can still see him through the smoke. _He saw Kiba's new form, and despite having seen it before, he still failed to suppress his basic instinct to feel terror. _It's just an Inuzuka technique, it's gotta be. So what if this one's on fire? It's still just a transformation, just a ninjutsu! _He pulled his hands out of the Tiger seal and swiped them through several more. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Over the roar of his own flames, Sasuke just barely heard Kiba's distorted voice chuckling. Then the fireball struck Kiba's cloud of smoke, which promptly ignited and exploded, shocking Sasuke. Dozens of pieces of debris, burning in pieces roughly the size of a Phoenix Flower, scattered in all directions. Sasuke easily dodged several. _I got him! _"Kiba... are you still alive in there?"

"Eight points."

Sasuke froze under the combined and unexpected killing intent of Kiba and Akamaru, unable to turn and face the foes standing behind him.

"Larnyx. Spine. Lungs. Liver. Jugular vein. Subclavian artery. Kidneys... _Heart_," Kiba spoke in a voice that could be described as both a growl and a purr. "These are the eight points targeted by the Silent Killing. Each one induces death that, while not necessarily instant, is fast enough that the victim has no time to scream."

"Attaboy," Zabuza said and nodded approvingly from his seat in the crowd.

"Tell me, Sasuke Uchiha... given a choice, would you prefer to be struck in any of those eight points over the others?"

Sasuke shuddered. _He's... like Itachi, and Orochimaru... this killing intent is... _"Kiba... what the hell are you?"

"Calm down," Kiba prompted him, and cut off his killing intent. "What am I?" he chuckled darkly. "You can't even imagine how happy I am that you asked me that. What am I? I'm the Hellhound of Konoha!"

Then the genjutsu clone behind Sasuke vanished.

"Now, I'll say it again." The fifteen-foot-tall, three-headed white Hellhound emerged from within the smoke, just before it began to fade. "Calm down. You can't give me a good fight, and these people a good show, if you're this scared! Gather your wits, shinobi of Konoha! Show me this power you were so proud of!"

Sasuke began making hand seals. He smirked, despite the fact he was still shaking faintly from Kiba's killing intent. "H-Hn... you're too loud, Kiba. Tone it down a little. Actually, tell me... how did you put that clone behind me?"

"Oh, that?" Kiba asked innocently. "I had a basic clone transform into a fireball, along with a few real ones I spat out with the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. It passed you, reassumed its true form, and delivered a line I was taught to rehearse perfectly. The intimidation factor of the Silent Killing being described with those words... it's remarkable, isn't it?"

"So your strategy is to intimidate me."

"No," Kiba laughed, which sounded odd through the distorted voice of his Cerberus Mode. "I was just doing that for kicks. Zabuza-sensei had me practice intimidation methods, along with his personal variant of killing intent, and... well, I kind of took a liking to it. Terrifying people has sort of become a hobby of mine."

"You're not half bad," Sasuke acknowledged, "but you forgot something. My brother is Itachi Uchiha, and before he left the village, the nightmares he showed me were far worse than anything you could come up with!" He was still making hand seals until that moment, at which point he roared, "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

Kiba's demonic form was completely engulfed by Sasuke's attack, but when it passed, he was unharmed. "Oh, maybe I should have mentioned that. These red flames around me can't be interfered with by any Fire Release ninjutsu. My Hellhound Mode acts as a barrier to protect me from fire jutsu, no matter how strong."

Sasuke scowled. "Damn it..." _that just leaves me with my Lightning Release... Those techniques are all stupidly taxing on my chakra, and worse, I doubt any but the Chidori pack enough of a punch to bring Kiba down in this state. _"Fine. I'll give you a bit of credit, Kiba, without my Fire Release I might've been crippled."

"Might've?"

"Oh, maybe I should have mentioned that," Sasuke echoed. "I have my secondary element now!" he slapped his hands together in the 'clone seal,' and called, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

All six of Kiba's eyes narrowed. _A shadow clone? _He bared his teeth in a growl as an exact copy of Sasuke formed next to the original. _But that's not an elemental jutsu... what's he thinking?_

The clone drew a kunai and sprinted toward Kiba, who let it approach, amused. When it got within range, he lunged, and clamped the jaws of his central head down on it. "Huh. Tastes like silicon _oh shi-"_

The Lightning Release Shadow Clone exploded into a field of crackling electricity in Kiba's mouth, and Sasuke sighed in relief as most of the clone's borrowed chakra returned to him. _Now that I've actually used that trick in a fight, I don't think I like it any more. Splitting my chakra in two like that is too risky. Not to mention the first jutsu I used was my Fire Dragon Bullet... If he could prevent me from recovering the chakra in that clone, he'd be all but guaranteed to finish me off._

Kiba and Akamaru both growled in annoyance, seperated into their original forms to eliminate the damage from Sasuke's lightning that might otherwise have killed them. "Ow..." Kiba stood, and cracked his neck to both the right and left. "You said that was a shadow clone," he observed angrily. "So what was with the lightning?"

"A little trick I picked up from Kakashi," Sasuke grinned. "He figured out how to apply nature transformation to a shadow clone, while not increasing its durability to the level of a true elemental clone. Instead, it violently releases a set fraction of the chakra it's made up, and returns the rest to the creator. It explodes."

Kiba grinned. "How many of those things can you make?"

"Just one at a time," he admitted sadly. "In order to make any more, I'd need to learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Ah... so the jutsu Mizuki used was a seperate variation."

"And a kinjutsu," Sasuke added. "Kakashi claims he doesn't know it, but I have my doubts... either way, I can only make one clone for now." he paused. "You're completely unharmed after taking a blast of lightning to the face. Care to explain that?"

"Uh... not really," Kiba grinned at Sasuke's indignant glare, and shaped a few hand seals. "Fire Release: Hidden Smoke Jutsu."

The air around Kiba and Sasuke darkened and thickened into black haze, rendering the fearsome crimson eyes of the Uchiha completely useless. "What is this?" Sasuke demanded angrily. "I can't see your chakra through this smoke."

"That's because this smoke _is _my chakra," Kiba replied. His voice echoed in all directions, never betraying his location. "In Kiri, there's a popular stealth ninjutsu used in conjunction with the Silent Killing, that laces the air with water and chakra. Simply by channeling fire chakra instead of water, I created this variant of it. According to Zabuza, the Hidden Mist has foiled Byakugan and Sharingan alike for decades. Apparently smoke works just as well."

"Hn..." _I'm getting tired of this! _The Uchiha ran his hands through four quick seals, then stopped. "So you can't see me either... you're tracking me just by sound and scent."

"That's right." Kiba's voice distorted as he shifted back into Cerberus Mode. "You reek of fear, by the way."

"Come find me, and see if I look afraid!" Sasuke snarled, then aimed his right arm at the ground and grasped it with his left hand. "Chidori!" His arm lit up with lightning up to his elbow, and gave off a piercingly loud sound like a flock of birds chirping.

Kiba growled, and stepped into Sasuke's field of view, immediately noting the Chidori his foe held. _That thing looks like it'll hurt, _he noted grimly, then opened his three mouths and breathed out a cloud of smoke and ash.

_More smoke? _Sasuke lunged forward with his Chidori aimed at Kiba's central head. _I don't get it, why bother trying to make the smoke thicker when I've already spotted-_

With absolutely no warning, the ash cloud between the two Genin ignited into a massive fireball. Sasuke flinched and cried out as the heat from the flames washed over him, and the shockwave of the explosion threw him back. Kiba retreated backward out of the smoke being scattered by the blast, reverting to Baskerville Mode as he did so.

The last Uchiha in Konoha groaned and crawled to his feet. _My Chidori... half my chakra, wasted! _"Damn it!"

"You're kinda making this too easy, Sasuke." Kiba grinned as the last of the smoke faded.

_Damn it, I've been way too impulsive... That stops now. _Sasuke dusted himself off, and drew a kunai. _I got caught in that smoke, but it wouldn't have been too hard to run away until I reached clear air. Plus, I got trigger-happy with the Chidori and it's cost me. From now on, I'll be careful. I'll watch his every move with my Sharingan, keep my distance, and wait for a proper opening!_

Kiba noted the blade in Sasuke's hand, and decided not to release his next fireball. _He knows a weapon like that won't do much against my Cerberus Mode, but he probably thinks if he throws enough of 'em at me, he'll wear me down. Is he planning to outlast me? _His canine form shrank back down to a normal human's size. His clothes reappeared over his white fur, and while he was hunched over, he was perched on two legs.

Sasuke grinned. "I thought so. It takes a lot of chakra to maintain that form, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I can only last about nine minutes in Cerberus Mode." The Uchiha flinched. "Oh? More than you expected? In this Baskerville Mode, and with the chakra I have left, I can probably keep fighting like this for twenty minutes. Plus, in this form I'm lighter and faster, and I can actually use Inuzuka-style taijutsu."

Sasuke tightened his grip on his kunai, scowling. He leapt backward as Kiba approached on all fours in a blur of crimson flame. _He wasn't bluffing; he's much faster now. _He backed away, just barely dodging several swipes of Kiba's burning claws. _I can still track his movements with the Sharingan and dodge, but barely. _Kiba jumped into the air and whipped a roundhouse kick at Sasuke's head. _I can't afford to block when his limbs are on fire! _

Kiba crouched down in front of Sasuke, easily dodged a swipe of the Uchiha's kunai, and opened his mouth to spit out a single Phoenix Flower fireball that struck Sasuke's chest, knocking him backward. Sasuke cried out in pain from the heat, but the fireball quickly went out, revealing that his shirt bore a circle of black soot but was otherwise unharmed. "Fireproof clothes?" Kiba questioned.

Sasuke grinned. "You're not the only one with protection from the Fire Release." _Really, these clothes aren't meant to stop enemy ninjutsu, but when an Uchiha is forming a fire jutsu, they run the risk of a half-formed jutsu backfiring on them. A proper attack jutsu, like a Great Fireball, would easily burn through it, but Kiba doesn't know that._

"So your clothes protect you from the Fire Release... well, I'll just aim for the most exposed parts of your body. Your knees, right arm, and head!" Kiba resumed his taijutsu onslaught and swiped several times at Sasuke's head.

_I can see him coming, but I can't predict him, _the Sharingan wielder frowned, quickly backpedaling to avoid Kiba's attacks. _His movements aren't entirely human, and he's good! Almost as fast as Lee with his weights on, but... _He drew a second kunai with his left hand, and blocked Kiba's next punch precisely on its blade. _Unlike with Lee, I can move fast enough to counter these moves, if barely. _He bared his teeth in pain as Kiba's Flame Armor burned his left hand, but he pulled back his right to stab forward.

Kiba snarled, and caught Sasuke's right-hand dagger, then grasped the left as well. The blades glowed orange, prompting Sasuke to release them and wipe his hands on his shirt frantically. The two kunai slowly began to melt as Kiba's grip tightened on them, but he tossed them aside before they could completely liquefy. The weapons sizzled as they struck the ground, blackening and igniting the patches of grass they landed in.

While this was happening, however, Sasuke had already resumed making hand seals. "Lightning Release: White Vajra Jutsu!" A thick shaft of white light, just under a foot long, appeared in Sasuke's right hand. Arcs of crackling lightning forked away from the core of the jutsu. Kiba stalked forward on all fours, growling at Sasuke and the lightning in his hand.

Sasuke jumped backward, putting far more distance between himself and Kiba. "This jutsu flies slowly through the air, slower than a kunai, and its power isn't enough to tear the ground apart like the Chidori. In spite of that, it's a very useful B-rank jutsu. That's because this jutsu is the only one in my arsenal that tracks its target."

_A homing ninjutsu... _Kiba stared intently at the bundle of lightning in Sasuke's hand. _Is it completely impossible to dodge?_

"It's a heat-seeking missile!" Sasuke roared, and threw the White Vajra like a javelin.

Kiba leapt away from it, but only to buy time, since it continued to follow him at the pace Sasuke described. _It's following my Flame Armor, I can't shake it off! _He tried to dodge to the side of the projectile as it closed in, but it simply swerved and passed cleanly through his flames to hit his hip. It exploded into dozens of lightning bolts that scattered in all directions, throwing Kiba through the air. The Hellhound groaned, but stood as quickly as he could, expecting Sasuke to close in while he was down.

Instead, Sasuke had already formed a second White Vajra before Kiba could look up. "Looks like those flames protected you from the worst of it, but I can tell that it hurt you, and with this jutsu, every single shot I fire _will _hit you. I won't be wasting any chakra on a miss." he pulled back his right arm and threw the second White Vajra.

Kiba's face, distorted by Akamaru's canine features, split into a broad grin as the bundle of lightning approached, startling and confusing Sasuke. He shaped the Flame Armor with his chakra, pulling it off of his body and directing it forward between himself and the White Vajra. He grinned even further when he saw Sasuke's jutsu come to a dead stop, floating in the center of his flames.

"That was lucky," Kiba decided, and explained, "That lightning thing didn't explode when it touched my flames. It had enough momentum to actually hit me, and that's what set it off. It flies to the heat source, then explodes when it hits something. Those two things don't have to happen in the same moment. So if I do _this_..."

The ball of red flame that was once Kiba's armor flew toward Sasuke, and the White Vajra within followed. The Uchiha's mouth fell open with a combination of shock and total outrage, as he was forced to dodge his own jutsu.

"Or _this_..." Kiba's flames vanished entirely, and the lightning resumed its normal pattern of tracking the most notable heat source in its current path, in this case Sasuke, who growled in frustration, breathed out a Phoenix Flower to distract it. He followed this up by throwing a kunai at the ball of lightning to set it off at its current, safe distance.

"It's starting to piss you off, isn't it?"

Sasuke bared his teeth in a furious snarl. _It is... _he formed the first of four hand seals, and the tomoe in his Sharingan began spinning rapidly. _It is! _His Cursed Seal began spreading over his neck. "It _is!_" He roared, and formed his second Chidori of the day. "You're _pissing me off, Kiba!_"

He charged with Chidori in hand, and Kiba grinned, just before shifting into Cerberus Mode. The canine head on his left breathed out a cloud of Hidden Smoke, the central head mockingly laughed at Sasuke, and the right head bent down bared its teeth.

Sasuke rammed his Chidori through the right head's teeth, shattering them and spearing the Cerberus' tongue. He snarled, and pulled back his head to stab upward into the roof of its mouth, piercing, electrifying, and ultimately destroying its brain.

Kiba and Akamaru immediately split apart into two seperate, unharmed entities. Kiba promptly closed the short distance between himself and Sasuke to punch the Uchiha in the face. He then reignited his Flame Armor and shifted into a taijutsu style more typical of an Inuzuka, swiping at Sasuke with open, clawed hands. Sasuke felt the impact and heat of each strike, and once his his Cursed Seal receded mid-beating, he quickly came to realize he'd made a mistake in using it.

Kiba finished his assault by stepping back and planting his foot in Sasuke's solar plexus, knocking the Uchiha to the ground where he wheezed for air, badly winded. Kiba drew a kunai, crouched next to Sasuke, and pressed the blade to his neck, clearly showing he'd won. Sasuke twitched, accidentally nicking his own throat on the kunai, but he glared at Kiba even as Genma called, "Kiba Inuzuka has demonstrated a clear upper hand and can kill his opponent at a moment's notice. I award him the match, and he will advance to the next round."

"Did you use that curse seal thing on purpose?" Kiba demanded angrily, but pulled away his kunai.

"So what if I did?" Sasuke shot back as he sat up

"Answer the question," the Hellhound growled.

"...No. It just happened. So how'd you survive my lightning-covered fist going through your brain?"

Kiba halfheartedly chuckled, and dropped the kunai back into his pouch with a clinking sound. "You and I have given away enough of our tricks in front of a huge audience. I think I'll keep that one secret."

"Hn," Sasuke muttered, then stood, brushed himself off, and turned his back to Kiba. "Next time, I'll be sure to destroy you."

Kiba laughed much louder, and replied, "I've got no problem with regularly kicking your ass. Since you're Konoha's Uchiha prodigy, it might even help me build that reputation I want so bad."

Meanwhile, Orochimaru sighed loudly under the Kazekage's hat and cowl. "Ah, Sasuke-kun, I admit I'm far less than impressed."

"Orochimaru, what the hell are you planning, anyway?" Naruto turned to face him with an expression of honest confusion. "You're outnumbered three to one."

"By an old fool and two Genin, yes. Then again, we could count these Konoha and Suna ANBU," he gestured to the masked shinobi around them, "but to be quite honest, I have a plan in mind to deal with them, so I can take my time killing you and capturing two of the Bijuu in one battle. They'll make _excellent _bargaining chips to trade with the Akatsuki."

"So you don't think of me and Gaara as a threat at all?" the boy in black and orange questioned. "I'm stronger than I was the Forest of Death, ya know."

"I was merely _toying _with you in the Forest of Death, child," Orochimaru replied. "Well, I still have to hold back my full power if I'm to capture you alive. The Akatsuki would be less than pleased if I killed you and set back their plans until the Nine-Tails reappears. Likewise if I accidentally kill the One-Tail."

"You expect to _accidentally _kill a mass of sentient demonic chakra the size of a small mountain?" Gaara questioned, paraphrasing what Shukaku was currently screaming at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru ignored Gaara, instead pointing to the arena. "Pay attention, boy. The proctor just called your friends back down there." True enough, Hinata, Tenten, Chouji and Temari were all making their way to the center of the field, where Genma and Kiba were standing.

"That was the last match of the first round, which means it's time to assign Chouji Akimichi to his match in the semifinals, among other things." The proctor pulled a deck of cards from his weapons pouch, fanned them out in front of Chouji, and said, "If the card you pull has the number one on it, you'll be fighting with Hinata and Tenten. If it says two, you'll fight Temari and Kiba."

Chouji nodded, pulled a card from the deck, and read it. "Two."

Genma took the card back. "All right then. The first match of the second round will be Hinata Hyuuga versus Tenten, followed by a three-way match between Kiba Inuzuka, Chouji Akimichi, and Temari," he announced. "However, all but one of you have already been in a match and drained your chakra reserves to various extents. As such..." he pulled three blue soldier pills from his pouch, and handed one each to Tenten, Temari and Kiba. "You're being given a soldier pill and enough time for it to fully kick in. Hinata, you already took one after your match."

She nodded. "So what now? You said we weren't going to begin the second round right away?"

"That's right. By taking a break here, we can take the time to introduce you to the various Daimyou who will eventually be hiring you for higher-ranked missions. These people," he waved a hand at the crowd of rich civilians, "are your future clients, and as such they have a bit of influence on who will be made a Chuunin today. They've already read a bit about you, but now you have the oppurtunity to tell them more about your skills, including ones you couldn't normally show in an open fight. Things like laying traps, blacksmithing, infiltration."

"Ah..." Tenten nodded. "I like the sound of that."

"So do you wanna go first?" Genma questioned. "Go ahead, brag your heart out. You're supposed to."

She nodded again. "My name's Tenten, no last name in case you were wondering. I know a bit of Fire Release jutsu, but I'm best at creating weapons. I'm great with fuinjutsu and blacksmithing. All of the equipment I'm carrying," she triggered her barrier ninjutsu briefly, "Or wearing, was all designed and crafted by me. This suit I'm wearing is breathable, retains moisture, and allows for full freedom of movement where civilian clothes, or even typical shinobi uniforms, would restrict my body to some extent. More importantly though, it's an 'ultimate defense,' which is the term for a defensive jutsu that can protect me from any number of directions at once. In fact, it doesn't even take that much chakra to maintain."

She took a step back, and shrugged. "Who's next?"

"I'll go," Kiba replied. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka. This..." he lifted Akamaru out of his hoodie so the puppy could woof happily at the crowd, "...is Akamaru. In case you haven't heard, my clan trains and fights with ninja hounds. Our clan jutsu all focus on either imitating the traits of our dog partners, or using a Collaboration Transformation to combine our bodies. Me and Akamaru here are using a new experimental jutsu to share our bodies without Collaboration Transformation. In fact, we can even connect our minds too."

He grinned. "We combine that with our Fire Release affinities to create what we call Hellhound Mode. That's what I was using against Sasuke. Akamaru and I are the only two beings in the world who know it, and once we work out the last few kinks, in theory it should surpass the existing Inuzuka techniques, like the Two-Headed and Three-Headed Wolves. We'll give you all a good look at our power in the next round, and that's all I gotta say."

"Uh, can I go next?" Chouji asked, and set down his bag of chips.

Kiba glanced down at the half-full bag, then back up at Chouji, who didn't seem to realize he had willingly released his grip on food. _Somehow, that strikes me as a really, REALLY bad sign. _He nodded shakily, and stepped away from Chouji.

"I'm Chouji of the Akimichi Clan. I'm not fat, I'm big-boned, as are most of my clanmates. Our jutsu usually revolve around voluntary shapeshifting. We can change the size of our whole bodies, or specific parts of it like our fists or arms. It takes a lot of fuel to keep a body that size going, so we Akimichi are almost constantly eating. That's because some of the higher-level Akimichi jutsu can convert calories directly into chakra. The more I eat, the longer I can fight. For the record, I've been eating nonstop since this morning, and I'm gonna use that energy to win this tournament."

Temari sized up the overweight, unarmed boy who seemed to be wearing underwear on his head, and burst out laughing. He turned to face her, and she quickly fell silent. He didn't seem angry that she was laughing at him at all, but that only made the look on his face more unnerving. "I'm going to defeat you," he repeated calmly, wearing a subdued smile. "I've said all I need to, so who wants to go next?"

Temari remained silent, so Hinata spoke up. "I'll go, thank you, Chouji-kun." she looked up at the expectant crowd, and blushed faintly. "My name's Hinata Hyuuga. My clan's kekkei genkai," she pointed to her pale lavender eyes, "is called the Byakugan. With it, I can see in all directions, through objects, and for incredible distances. I can even see a person's chakra network."

"The Hyuuga Clan's unique taijutsu style, the Gentle Fist, uses the Byakugan to aim for the chakra network and tenketsu, so we can inject our own chakra into it. Doing that interferes with my opponent's ability to use chakra. First, they lose the ability to use ninjutsu. Then their muscles stop responding, then they pass out completely. It's around that time that the lack of chakra circulation begins to shut down their organs. All of this can happen in a matter of seconds too, and if I strike the right place, like the heart or brain, I can kill my opponent instantly."

"But," she added firmly, "All of that is what you could expect from any Hyuuga. I don't want to make it sound like those abilities are unique to me or even rare in Konoha. It wouldn't be fair for me to take credit for that. Now, as for the skills that are more unique to me... after I learned the Gentle Fist, I began applying the heightened chakra control I earned through it to other things. I created my own Gentle Fist jutsu, the Guardian Sixty-Four Palms."

She gestured to Tenten's barrier armor. "It's an ultimate defense, which I'm still currently improving. I recently added my Water Release affinity to it... speaking of which, apparently my skill with water is exceptional. I haven't found any water users in Konoha that I could compare my abilities to, but in Kiri the Water Release is much more common. I talked to a Kiri-nin recently who told me that I can generate and control more water than the average Special Jounin in his home village."

"As far as I can tell, that must have something to do with my chakra control. The more of it a shinobi has, the less chakra they can use for a jutsu, and so they can use more powerful jutsu, as if their reserves are larger than they really are. I've created my own water jutsu, the Hollow Water Dragon, which takes a lot of control but it's also very easy on my reserves. I can even turn it to ice instead of water, which makes it even more powerful."

"...I should probably mention that most Water Release users consider it impossible to control ice without a kekkei genkai..." she shook her head. "Still, I can't take the credit for that either. I didn't come up with it myself; it was taught to me. Anyway, it's been pretty useful. I can make my defenses stronger and my attacks hit harder when I use ice instead of water. Now, what else was there..." Hinata hummed thoughtfully. _I'm saying all of this in hopes of getting promoted to Chuunin, so I might as well..._ "Oh. I know the Rasengan, which you saw when Naruto-kun and I used it. It's one of the Fourth Hokage's famous jutsu, along with the Flying Raijin."

While a vast majority of the crowd began whispering amongst themselves about the Yellow Flash and Hinata's implication that the jutsu was still known to Konoha, she stepped back and nodded to Temari. "They're all yours," she smiled.

"Uh..." Temari glanced around at the four Konoha Genin, in particular Kiba and Chouji. "Thanks..." _They don't look like much, but they're all strong. _"I'm Temari of the Hidden Sand. I manipulate wind with this fan here," she tapped the weapon over her shoulder, "And I've studied the Wind Release in my village extensively. As the daughter of the Fourth Kazekage," she looked up at Orochimaru, knowing exactly who he was under his mask, "I've had the privilege to study higher-level Wind Release jutsu that wouldn't normally be available to a Genin."

"Rather than explaining my abilities any further," she decided, "I'll just show you all by winning this tournament." She fell silent then, and nodded to Genma.

"All right. Now that that's out of the way," he declared, "There's only one more subject to talk about." he smirked. "Betting. Now that all five remaining Genin have explained their abilities in some capacity, and with the exception of Chouji, have all actually shown those abilities, we're offering you a new way to get more involved in the tournament. If you're risking something on the outcome of the battle, you'll surely be paying close attention to it."

"This is something Konoha has never done before, but our hope is that you'll help us choose who gets promoted to Chuunin more carefully. Plus, it should make the event more engaging for you. Within the next few minutes, you should see Chuunin walking amongst you with scrolls, taking bets-"

Naruto stood, perched atop the railing of the Kage's balcony where Sarutobi, Gaara, and Orochimaru sat. He cleared his throat and called out loudly, "Somebody write this down! Three million ryou on Hinata Hyuuga winning the whole thing! Believe it!"

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata sighed, listening to the sudden murmurs from most of the crowd. "What are you thinking?" Then she blinked. _Wait... he's... hoping people will bet against him? People who know who he is, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, might want to take the bet just to challenge him... it's just a guess on his part, but there's no real risk to him because... _she paused in her thoughts, and began to smile. _Because I'm going to win anyway! _

Hinata grinned as Naruto waved to her, and she waved back. _Neither one of us ever goes back on our word, and I promised him I'd win this tournament. He believes in me, and I won't let him down. I'll win this tournament, for both of us!_

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